Newspapers / North Carolina School of … / March 1, 1998, edition 1 / Page 10
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PAGE 10 MARCH 1998 1 •• J ^ ■ NCSSM athletic funding Who's picking up the tab? TESSE WJARTON Leon Adelman practice his swing at the Hillandale course. Golf on the go ANNAMOtaUSON The slice of a golf swing is not a sound notraally heard at Science and Math. At least it wasn’t be fore. This spring, things will change as sttjdents watch die new est varsity sport, golf, begin its first season at NCSSM. Seniors Leon Adelman, Ainit Bakri and Andy Strayhom have considered the initiation of a golf team one of their top priorities since coming to the school. Their big gest challenge was finding enough interest for a team. Last year they began the golf club, sponsored by Head of Security Ken Home. “The whole point of starting the [golf] club last year was to prove there was enough interest [for a team],” Adelman said. However, the golf club didn’t provide the playing time that stu dents wanted. “With the golf club, there is really no guarantee that you are going to be playing a lot, but with a varsity sport you have the opportunity to play more and play competitively,” Bakri said. Originally, the administration agreed that there was enough inter est to field a team, proven by the number of members of the golf club. However, it believed that the team could not be started until the 1998 school year, due to lack of funds in the athletic budget. This did not stop the students. *T felt that the school really needed a golf team,” Adelman said “I’ve talked to a few people who didn’t apply [to NCSSM] >»»use there wasn’t a team, and because they wouldn’t have the opportunity to play. I believe that talented indi viduals should have the opportunity to play golf while attending NCSSM.” A lot of planning went into fielding ateara this year, particularly in light of the financial set backs due to lack of funding. Finding a coach was originally a problem for the fledgling team, but golf pro Eddie Dennis from the Willowdale Golf Club in Durham has agreed to coach. "We talked to Branson [Brown] and Dr. Barber. They said that there wasn’t enough money, but that if we could find a place to play, Branson agreed to find a coach,” Strayhom said. Hillandale Golf Course agreed to let the team have matches there for free, and Duke University is giv ing the members the ability to prac tice on campus for student rates. Despite this, one major obstacle still faces the team: transportation. “The most difficult part will be transportation,” Strayhom said, “The coach can only meet with us 3 days a week, so we may end up walking to Hillandale [golf course].” However, the team is still com mitted to playing in the spring. It is not unusual for high school students to spend their Friday nights at a school football game. However, this is not possible for NCSSM stu dents because the school does not have a football team. For the aver age school, it costs anywhere be tween $ 120,000 to $ 150,000 to field a competitive team, which is more than NCSSM’s entire athletic fund. NCSSM receives a portion of its athletic funds from the state, but it only grants money for physical edu cation, healthful living and other mandatory courses. The money that public schools receive for athletics comes from county taxes, which are distributed by the county school board and divided from there. Since NCSSM is part of the University of North Carolina system, it does not qualify as a Durham County school. In order to compensate, the Par ents’ Council funds NCSSM’s ath letic program. State funds offered for physical education cover the ex pense of equipment for Physical Activity and Wellness testing; main tenance; janitorial supplies; equip ment for the weight room; and car pentry needs for the PEC. Thus, the Parents’ Fund, which consists of donations from parents and alumni and is compiled by the Parents’ Council, must pay for all additional expenses. This includes everything from equipment to referees to NCHSAA dues for insurance and eligibility for students to compete in individual state competitions. With all of these basic yet nec essary expenses, the athletic pro gram has had to decide what varsity sports and other athletic opportuni ties the students and the school can most benefit from. This is why foot ball has never been offered at NCSSM. If the school had a foot ball team, it could only offer a few other athletic opportunities. Therese Taxis, Parents’ Pro gram Coordinator, plays a big part in the process of dividing the annual fund into four main categories. Ath letics and intramurals are the second highest receiver behind student ac tivities. Approximately 28 percent of the Parents’ Fund is given to the athletic program each year. The responsibility of dis tributing money within the athletic department falls into the hands of Athletic Director Branson Brown. This includes setting a budget and dividing money into categories rang ing from salaries to uniforms to fees. Athletic receipts, or profits from ticket sales, and concessions, which include profits from NCSSM shirts and paraphernalia sales, add to the funds received from the state and Parents’ Fund. Yet no sport brings in enough profit from athletic re ceipts to pay for itself. “Wrestling is the only sport that comes close to paying for itself,” said Brown. “That is because of the NCSSM invitational [which is hosted] every year at Hillside High School. However, half of the profits are split with Hillside in payment for facilities.” In the past several years, the sports have had to manage with even less money, making it harder to keep within a budget and still pro vide the services students needed for recreation. There is no explanation for why the donations have de creased. “[The year] 1993 was the last year we won Wachovia Cup and the budget was $47,000. Since then, the [athletics fund] has undergone significant cuts and we now have a $34,000 budget. Parents are not do nating as in years past. But the bud get I am turning in Jaihuary will be higher than now,” said Brown. Although the athletic pro gram is much smaller than many stu dents’ old schools, they still take advantage of the spiorts and facili ties offered. Most students and fac ulty believe that recreation is impor tant for teenagers so that they can get exercise and relieve stress. “I think that NCSSM provides a whole list of educational experi ences. We don’t look at NCSSM being completely Science and Math. Being able to play [a sport] is relax ing. Physical development is just as important as academic develop ment,” said Taxis. And NCSSM offers this kind of development...even without foot ball. Athletes consider goals the aim of the game BECCA BOOI Goals are important in sports for both the team and the individual. Athletes have found that setting goals provides motivation and gives purpose to the sport. Coaches and athletes set goals as a team in order to establish direc tion for the season. These goals can range from winning, to doing your best, to having fun. They usually vary according to the sport, depen dent on how much it focuses on working together as a team, as in basketball, versus its focus on the individual, as in wrestling. “Our coahees always wanted us to achieve our personal best,” Wres tler Cole Maynard said, “If that meant winning, great, if not, that was fine too.” In basketball, the players be lieve that improvement and hard work should be top priorities. “I want to make sure I give ev erything I have when I am on the court and let everything else take care of itself,” Junior Bryson Finklea said. Finklea added that although the team may lose a game, it has still won if the players have done the best they can. Although many athletes said they work hard to reach team goals, overall they can control the outcome of their individual goals more. “You can push yourself more than you can push your team,” Wres tler Daryl Williams said. Senior Emma Archibong be lieves that the individual pride and satisfaction of reaching a goal out weighs the hard work and pain of practice. “It doesn’t matter how much you’re hurting,” Archibong said, “If you have something you’re shoot ing for, then that’s all you’re think ing about.” An important part of setting goals is knowing how to reach them. The players and coaches of the bas ketball teams believe goals are ac complished by dedication, team work and making sacrifices. However, even the most dedi cated athlete sometimes loses sights of his/her goals. Williams said that writing down his goals and then in tegrating them into his everyday life kept him focused throughout the rest of the season.
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Student Newspaper
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March 1, 1998, edition 1
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