By Lucas O'Neill, ESPN RISE Magazine October 22, 2009 - Three years ago, Dunbar (Washington, D.C.) was slated to host a nationally televised high school football game on ESPNU. About a month before the contest, however, an article in The Washington Post chronicled the school's outdated facilities -- a busted weight room; a broken, moldy shower; a track in disrepair.
(Photo caption: Some Boston area schools have to scrounge for uniforms and equipment, and some even playing fields)
Dunbar players, including then-senior Arrelious Benn, one of the nation's top receivers, expressed concern that the decrepit conditions would reflect poorly on their school. At the eleventh hour, Dunbar received funding to make emergency repairs in time for the game and much-needed upgrades afterward.
A year later, with Benn off to college at Illinois, another nationally televised high school football game showed how the other side lives. Southlake Carroll (Southlake, Texas), then a three-time defending state champion and the nation's No. 2 team, boasted a multimillion-dollar indoor practice facility that would rival anything Benn was experiencing with the Illini. Even though the game was held at SMU's Ford Field, Carroll's impressive facilities got nearly as much exposure as its talented team.
"There's always going to be the haves and the have-nots," Dunbar football coach Craig Jefferies says. "It keeps our kids humble. We want to eat steak one day. We keep eating the hot dogs, and that gives us the drive to keep getting to that point."
Carroll and Dunbar represent the economic disparity that exists in high school sports, where money can mean the difference between success and just getting on the field. In this time of recession and uncertainty, funding is more tenuous than ever for many school districts. But the formulation is not always so simple, the contrast not always so stark. You don't have to have money to win. And in some struggling communities, funding isn't an issue -- especially for programs with a history of success. But one way or another, money influences nearly every facet of high school sports.
Pay to play
Last year, Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) put its own spin on the phrase "pay to play." The Westchester County community with a population of around 68,000 voted down the school budget in the spring of 2008. With sports on the chopping block, Mount Vernon student-athletes stepped to the forefront of an impressive effort called Save Our Sports, which raised roughly $950,000 to preserve Mount Vernon's 22 varsity sports teams for the 2008-09 school year.
Partnering with organizations like the Mount Vernon Educational Foundation, Save Our Sports met the goal through a variety of means. Basketball coach Bob Cimmino's charges helped organize the Ben Gordon Bowling Bash, featuring the former Mount Vernon star and current Detroit Pistons guard. Football coach Rick Wright spearheaded a campaign to ask 5,000 people for $100. Wrestling coach Craig Ramsey, who's also a firefighter, set up a tollbooth with help from fire trucks and student-athletes.
Last year, Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) put its own spin on the phrase "pay to play." The Westchester County community with a population of around 68,000 voted down the school budget in the spring of 2008. With sports on the chopping block, Mount Vernon student-athletes stepped to the forefront of an impressive effort called Save Our Sports, which raised roughly $950,000 to preserve Mount Vernon's 22 varsity sports teams for the 2008-09 school year.
Partnering with organizations like the Mount Vernon Educational Foundation, Save Our Sports met the goal through a variety of means. Basketball coach Bob Cimmino's charges helped organize the Ben Gordon Bowling Bash, featuring the former Mount Vernon star and current Detroit Pistons guard. Football coach Rick Wright spearheaded a campaign to ask 5,000 people for $100. Wrestling coach Craig Ramsey, who's also a firefighter, set up a tollbooth with help from fire trucks and student-athletes.
News spread of student-athletes soliciting donations in uniform and on the street, and soon money started coming in from all over. A couple that was getting married asked for guests to donate to Save Our Sports in lieu of gifts. A young man donated all of his bar mitzvah money.
Even neighboring towns pitched in. A cocktail party in Bronxville, N.Y., an affluent community that borders Mount Vernon, raised more than $200,000 in September 2008. And because the school system had an anonymous donor matching dollar-for-dollar that month, the cocktail party brought in nearly half of what was needed to keep sports alive at Mount Vernon.
Even neighboring towns pitched in. A cocktail party in Bronxville, N.Y., an affluent community that borders Mount Vernon, raised more than $200,000 in September 2008. And because the school system had an anonymous donor matching dollar-for-dollar that month, the cocktail party brought in nearly half of what was needed to keep sports alive at Mount Vernon.
"It was an amazing experience," Cimmino says. "Terribly time-consuming and draining, but we got it done."
Not everybody's as lucky. East Detroit (Eastpointe, Mich.) cut all freshman athletic programs starting this school year due to a budgetary crisis. The City Section in Los Angeles eliminated several baseball and softball games and reduced the number of buses provided for wrestling tournaments due to a lack of state-transportation funding this past spring. And in Florida, all sports except football were slated to see a 20 percent reduction in the number of contests played during this school year until the decision was challenged and the games reinstated.
Stories like these abound in practically every corner of the country. Sports, like the arts, are often seen as one of the easiest things to cut when a school faces a budgetary shortfall. And it's hard to argue that baseball is more important than math. At the same time, there are costs associated with cutting "extras," even if the tab isn't immediately clear.
"It's like missing a math course or a social studies course, it's that important on their résumé," Cimmino says. "If you excel at something, that's what colleges are looking at." Cimmino pushed so hard to keep sports at Mount Vernon because he knows what basketball means to the school and community. All but two of his players have gone on to attend college. In a city where less than a quarter of the adult population has a bachelor's degree, that's no small feat. And it's no coincidence. "Athletes in season almost always do better on their report cards than athletes not in season," Cimmino says.
It's hard to put a price on that. That's just one reason Mount Vernon Police Commissioner David Chong was one of the first people on board for Mayor Clinton Young's Save Our Sports initiative. It wasn't hard for law enforcement and elected officials to predict what it would mean if hundreds of teenagers were without sports to occupy their afternoons and evenings.
One way or another, the community would pay.
One way or another, the community would pay.
Community pride
This past summer, Pahokee (Pahokee, Fla.) unveiled a multimillion-dollar football stadium bearing the name of alumnus Anquan Boldin, now a star receiver with the Arizona Cardinals. The complex includes a new practice field and locker room akin to those at a small Division I program.
This past summer, Pahokee (Pahokee, Fla.) unveiled a multimillion-dollar football stadium bearing the name of alumnus Anquan Boldin, now a star receiver with the Arizona Cardinals. The complex includes a new practice field and locker room akin to those at a small Division I program.
At first glance then, Pahokee seems comparable to Southlake Carroll. But look beyond the playing surface and you see something much different. Unlike in well-off Southlake, about one-third of Pahokee's 6,000 residents live below the poverty line. Between foreclosures and layoffs, the crunch has hit the Palm Beach County community hard. "It's been tough for the people of Pahokee for years, even more so now that the economy is down," Pahokee football coach Blaze Thompson says. "The poverty level is high, jobs are few and far between." Despite the hardships, Pahokee's football team is consistently among the best in the state, if not the country. The Blue Devils produced about a dozen Division I recruits last year and could feature even more this year once national signing day is over.
Thompson says the program's new facility was a worthy investment despite the tough economic times. "I think the players will be proud, the community will be proud," Thompson says. "I think it'll have a positive impact on the town."
Football isn't just a sport in Pahokee -- it's about community pride, release and often opportunity. Thousands attend the annual Muck Bowl game against Glades Central (Belle Glade, Fla.). And Thompson says none of his players would have been able to go to college without football. "I don't know of any player who's had the benefit of money or that kind of thing," Thompson says. "Every single one of them has to fight."
Carroll football coach Hal Wasson frames his community's commitment to football, even in tough times, slightly differently. With great facilities already in place, he emphasizes the importance of keeping his players protected no matter the cost.
"[The recession has] definitely hit everybody, but at the end of the day we're still in good shape as far as budget and equipment goes," Wasson says. "We'll never cut costs on the safety of our players."
Those costs are no small change. Between helmets, cleats, and shoulder, thigh and knee pads, the Dragons spend $600-700 per athlete for more than 300 players. It's a luxury many programs would love to have. But as Wasson points out, when safety is considered, it's not a luxury at all.
Carroll also has among the best-attended games in the nation. Its stadium holds 11,000 and will soon hold around 14,000 thanks to a recently passed bond. The gate receipts are impressive. And merchandise brings in thousands more each year, only some of which goes to the football team.
The squad's success -- on the field and in the ledger -- benefits many. According to a USA Today article on the profitable program, wealthy school districts like Carroll wind up supplying money for poorer districts under the so-called Robin Hood system.
"I've always said that Carroll is a special place and a unique place in that our school is so important to the community," Wasson says.
In football-crazed Texas, having a pro-level practice field isn't even unusual. Fellow Dallas-area schools like Allen (Allen, Texas) and the Plano tandem of East and West have excellent facilities as well. There is an element of keeping up with the Joneses, even in a recession.
"Everyone's on equal ground. That's why it's so dang tough to win a football game here anymore," Wasson says with a laugh.
Money goes only so far
Massachusetts, unlike Texas or Florida, is anything but a factory for Division I athletes. Partly this is because there are far fewer players, and partly it's because the warm weather lasts a shorter time in New England. Of course, money plays no small role. Boston may have some of the nation's best professional sports teams, but uniforms, equipment and even playing fields are often hard to come by for high school squads. When that's the case, success, attendance and school spirit are the next dominoes to fall.
Massachusetts, unlike Texas or Florida, is anything but a factory for Division I athletes. Partly this is because there are far fewer players, and partly it's because the warm weather lasts a shorter time in New England. Of course, money plays no small role. Boston may have some of the nation's best professional sports teams, but uniforms, equipment and even playing fields are often hard to come by for high school squads. When that's the case, success, attendance and school spirit are the next dominoes to fall.
The Boston Globe recently published a multipart exposé on the deficiencies of the city's athletics and, as with The Post's article on Dunbar in 2006, people appear to be listening. In August, Mayor Tom Menino announced the creation of the Boston Scholar Athlete Program, a joint venture of public and private entities aimed at improving facilities and equipment for the city's high school sports programs.
There is hope. But Dunbar coach Jefferies says money goes only so far. "It's about what you do on the field," he says. "Bricks and mortar and facilities don't win games."
Lucas O'Neill covers high school sports for ESPN RISE Magazine. This story appeared in the October issue.
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