The future of two Live Oak fall sports will be on the line
during Monday
’s School Board meeting. “It is a very pivotal meeting for what
the athletic offerings will be for us next year,” Live Oak varsity
football coach Glen Webb said. “Anyone with any interest in that
regardless of what sport or at what level their kids play is highly
encouraged to attend the me
eting.”
The future of two Live Oak fall sports will be on the line during Monday’s School Board meeting.
“It is a very pivotal meeting for what the athletic offerings will be for us next year,” Live Oak varsity football coach Glen Webb said. “Anyone with any interest in that regardless of what sport or at what level their kids play is highly encouraged to attend the meeting.”
The meeting on Monday will focus primarily on reinstating coaching positions for the fall sports in particular with alternate funding. A decision on other athletic program cutbacks will be made later in the year.
“The board will consider asking community and athletic support groups to assist them financially in the reinstatement of freshman football and varsity boys and girls tennis,” Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Denise Tate said Thursday. “They are both fall sports. The superintendent’s recommendation will be to authorize the parents and supporters to raise the funds to have these two sports operational by Aug.10.”
During the April 7 meeting, the Board of Trustees voted to reduce the extracurricular stipends (a majority being coaches’ pay) by $30,000. As a result, 10 or 11 coaching positions were cut. Without coaches, the sports were eliminated.
The first thing to go was the freshman sports. Varsity sports including diving, golf and tennis were also axed.
On June 3, trustees were asked to reverse their decision to eliminate freshman football, boys and girls tennis, boys and girls golf and co-ed diving portion of the swimming team. During that meeting, the Board questioned reinstating the stipend previously removed from the 2003-04 budget.
Because of the proximity of the Aug. 10 date for practice to begin, a decision would be needed for the teams to play in the fall. Of the $6,060 needed for each of the boys and girls tennis programs, $5,472 goes to pay for the coach, while the rest goes toward league and Central Coast Section fees. The feasibility of having a golf program will be looked at later.
“We will recommend taking a positive action on these sports now,” Tate said. “Golf is not out of the picture. The board does need to take some action on the 21st if the children are going to be able to practice.”
But the cuts haven’t stopped the freshman football team from practicing this summer to be ready for the season.
“Being as objective as I can possibly be (and yes, I know I am the football coach),” Webb said. “I can see absolutely no logical argument or tangible savings to support this cut. It will in fact cost the football account thousands. It will reduce the gate receipts, and may actually cost the district more as existing stipends will be paid at a higher rate.”
Webb, who believes football is not the place to start cutting because the program actually earns its keep, has a flexible coaching staff in place for the season.
“I got a freshman staff and varsity staff assembled ready to go,” Webb said. “There is a JV coach and a bunch of maybes. But I haven’t been able to give them a commitment.
“Here we are two weeks from handling out jerseys. That is what is killing me. Normally we have everything set by March or April. It is like saying you are going to start the school year but not know who the teachers are.”
According to a recent report Webb presented in a board meeting ambulance, referee and league dues last year for the team totaled about $2,750. The team generated $2,640 at the gate and picked up an additional $5,000 in player fees paid directly to the ASB football account.
Additional funds were also generated through selling programs and concessions. The freshman team had one of the highest participation rates in the Live Oak Booster Club, which was responsible for $31,000 in equipment orders.
“We’ve had freshmen out there all summer conditioning,” Webb said. “Of course if we have the team, we want to be ready to go. If we don’t, the players are eligible to play on the JV team, but then you will lose more than half of them.”
Last year, 38 freshmen were on the ninth-grade football team. In previous years, when there was just a JV team, eight freshman played on the team at most, Webb said.
Under the current proposal, diving – a key aspect in swim meets – will no longer exist. Although it is now done on a different day, points are still counted toward the total swimming score.
“Diving is a part of the swim team,” said coach Mack Haines. “It really gave both the girls and boys a tremendous amount of points going into championship this year. To me, cutting diving out of swimming is like cutting shot or pole vault out of track. It is like running linemen but cutting the secondary. It really compliments the other. We don’t want to have to go into each meet handicapped.”
Trustees will also hear an update from district staff on the status of the Britton Middle School pool, which the district is considering closing at the end of the summer. It is in need of repair and money is not budgeted to make those repairs.
Also on the agenda is a discussion of end-of-year promotion ceremonies, with regard to consistency, and a recommendation to rescind approval of the Community Day School opening for the 2003-2004 school year.
The Morgan Hill Board of Education will hold its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in the District Office, 15600 Concord Circle. Details: 201-6000.
