Change is on the way
School increases sports funding
by Grace Burg, Uncaged Reporter
The common misconception 6is that all of a school’s money goes to sports, but that’s not necessarily the case. The Athletics department has been predominantly self-funded in the past years.
Susan Lockhart has worked in the school district for the past 18 years and has been a coach in almost every sport they offer.
“We have always had to fundraise for uniforms and it’s been very frustrating and time-consuming. Not only is fundraising for uniforms frustrating, but pretty much all other equipment the teams need is fundraised for too,” said Lockhart.
The Stockbridge Athletic Boosters is a non-profit organization that was created to raise funds to help support and promote involvement in athletics. They raise money through many different things including concession sales, raffles, fundraisers and many more events. The boosters provide funding to each sport that puts in a request for money. In the past years, they have been the main contributor to keeping the sports running.
Other coaches have assumptions about what sports receive the majority of the sports funding.
“It always seems that football and basketball get the most attention, and spring sports, in general, are overlooked,” said previous varsity softball coach Darren Hejnal.
Although football received the most attention from spectators, it is not necessarily funded the most. In previous years, coach Jeremy Killinger has paid for the HUDL membership out of his own pocket. These memberships can cost anywhere from $900-$3,300 a year.
“The school provides me with twelve footballs each year, $2,000 for helmet reconditioning and recertification each season for many years, and, in the last three years, 6 helmets per year,” said Killinger. “All other equipment and uniforms are provided through fundraising and donation.”
Jeremy Killinger, who has been a part of the Stockbridge coaching staff for the past 28 years, is also the Girls’ Varsity Soccer Coach.
“The school provides me with 3 soccer balls each year. All other equipment and uniforms have been provided for through fundraising or donation,” Killinger said.
Like the other sports programs, boys and girls basketball programs have been self-funded in the past years but are hoping for a breather.
“In the past four years, boys basketball has been completely self-funded. Funds to operate each season and to purchase uniforms and equipment were raised annually by myself and the players in the program,” said varsity boys basketball coach Jacob Robidou. “This year the district has been generous enough to pay for our new uniforms, which helps us a lot. This takes some pressure off us to raise money for upcoming uniform replacement and allows us to pursue other goals that will help us build the program in the future.”
The 2022-2023 school year is a year for changes though. The boys basketball team was not the only one who received more funding from the school. Recently, the school took over the football HUDL membership from the athletic boosters which helped the football program fund other necessary things like team warm ups and other equipment. The Stockbridge Athletic Program has also dedicated $500 for each sport automatically with an allowance of more money being provided after a request. Finally, the school created a new uniform rotation which allows the boys and girls’ basketball teams to have brand-new uniforms this season.
Although predominantly self funded before, the school is finally giving all programs the breather they deserve.
