Trimming the athletic budget.

For most of our country's athletic directors, money has to do the talking. From college all the way down to junior high, it takes money--and often a lot of it--to operate all the sports programs. And the unfortunate truth is that when colleges face a financial hardship, they will often turn to the athletic budget to begin cutting.

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Even at Ohio State University, one of the largest universities in the land, AD Andy Geiger had to instruct each of his 35 coaches to trim his budget by five percent over the past two years. That came to an overall cut of $2 million. Geiger is hopeful that the cuts won't discomfort any project or team: "We have some huge projects on campus and a little conservatism can be helpful. Since we're a well-funded athletic program, we can tighten our belts without causing any damage."

However, Pat Cherry, OSU's rifle coach, believes it could be devastating to cut another five percent next year.

Most athletic directors hate telling coaches to cut back on their budgets. Take uniform and equipment purchases. Once on two to three year replacement cycles, many high schools are now on six to eight year cycles. The funds they once relied upon have either been allocated elsewhere or simply eliminated.

As school administrators ask AD's to cut the budget, AD's, in turn, have to tell coaches they have less to spend.

Trimming a budget by five percent often isn't easily accomplished, but it can be done. "At Swarthmore College athletes have accepted the necessity of it," says Dean Bob Gross. "It's not unreasonable to think that a thin layer of fat can be scraped off the budget, nor has anyone found that it will affect services in a negative way."

AD Bob Williams adjusted schedules to trim the budget. "We cannot be expected to adjust our budgets to affect the health, safety and welfare of student athletes," he says. "We are working on adjusting the timing of our contests. We want to limit travel to one day instead of incurring the expenses of an overnight trip. This should effect a great saving."

When budget cuts hit hard at Plattsburgh State University (NY), the athletes stepped up to meet the challenge. "I care about my teammates; I care about other teams," said Mike Francia, a senior who runs on both the cross-country and track teams. "I'd be willing to take a loss of meal money and sleep four to a room (instead of two) if it meant I could compete. I want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to play." When cuts have to made, the most accessible funds to eliminate are the travel expenses that coaches use for professional development (seminars), publication and book subscriptions, meal money and lodging, and incidental equipment orders (scorebooks, t-shirts, and shoes, for instance).

To make up the difference, AD's must turn to their booster clubs. "My palm was always out," a former Ohio AD complains. "I felt like a beggar, not a professional."

A New Jersey AD worries about the decreasing amount of funds allocated for athletics by the state and local government.

"The athletic programs will feel it first," he says, referring to budget cuts. "I'm afraid the future holds less, not more, for athletics."

While these grim forecasts may worry some AD's, there are still ways to balance the budget and field competitive teams.

First, every AD and coach should have a thorough understanding of the department's fiscal policies and the specific procedures for both raising and spending funds.

Second, they need to understand their accountability, as if the public were directly watching every expenditure.

Third, there must be equity in the accounting so that one program isn't favored over another.

Finally, all parties--coaches, athletes, parents--need to recognize that increased spending does not always translate into winning teams.

When AD's and coaches prepare a budget they should forecast probable expenditures and anticipated revenues for each sport. There are many expenditures to identify (see box below).

Revenues generally come from tax dollars (funds allocated for the athletic program by the school board or trustees), gate receipts, and booster club and alumni donations.

Some schools are also turning to more creative ways of generating revenues for their sports programs.

More ways to raise funds are used by Joey Montano, the coordinator of the office of development in the Albuquerque Public Schools. He implements a simple plan of marketing the interscholastic sports program and venues by tapping corporate and community resources. He seeks sponsors and sells broadcast opportunities to local radio and TV stations for football, basketball, baseball, and softball games throughout each sport season.

The district retains all rights and fees associated with any broadcast production of a school athletic event. Revenue from broadcast rights has varied over the last five years, ranging from $3,000 to $6,000. The most significant factors are the strength of schedule and the level of talent on each team.

Montano also uses special events which vary from a simple T-shirt giveaway promotion to a demanding celebrity golf tournament each spring.

Promotional sponsorships range from a "Big Bucks" financial commitment ($20,000) to a "Good Will" contribution ($5,000), depending on the quality of media exposure (the number of electronic and print impressions).

These gifts recognize the donors as promoters of the district's character code for participants and spectators.

Athletic directors should research past, present, and future needs for the athletic department, along with all inventories, schedules (i.e., travel, lodging), and previous budgets.

This research should lead to preliminary budgets for the coaches and administrators to examine. The budgets should be assessed to see if they are equitable; that is, all sports deal with the same percentages of monetary increases or decreases. If the figures are approved, the AD can construct a final budget that follows the policies established by the school board, estimated revenues, realistic expenses, and equal allocation of finances with no fall overspending and no spring cutbacks.

The AD must also maintain accurate records of gate receipts, fund-raising, and expenditures each season and annually review them to make sure none of the sports is being short-changed in terms of equipment, travel, or personnel.

At Pierce College (CA), for example, the athletic department distributed $150,000 equitably among its six sports last year.

Unfortunately, fiscal irresponsibility has caused more coaching dismissals than won/loss records--which only emphasizes the importance of careful planning and budgetary controls.

AD's and coaches must be very attentive to their budgets. They must purchase equipment and uniforms only according to the procedures set up by the school treasurer and/or administration and must be familiar with the proper forms needed for any fund raising. They should also be expected to participate with any efforts by the booster club to raise funds for their sport.

Budget preparation for athletic programs always poses a serious challenge, but the enclosed guidelines can lead to successful outcomes for both the AD and the teams on the field or court.

OSU AD Geiger summarizes the attitudes of most AD's in this fashion: "Everybody would rather play the role of Santa Claus than Scrooge, but you have to be both in management."

Which means we have to be a little conservative for a while.

RELATED ARTICLE: Following is a Typical Listing From Most to Least Essential:

1. Coaching salaries.

2. Officiating fees.

3. Trainers and other medical personnel.

4. Equipment, uniforms, warm ups, and pads.

5. Insurance.

6. Travel, mileage, lodging.

7. Awards.

8. Registration and entry fees for tournaments.

9. Game personnel such as scorers, announcers, table workers.

10. Office supplies, mailing, printing.

11. Laundry.

12. Meals and beverages for athletes, as needed.

13. Coaches' clinics, scouting, and meeting fees.

14. Unexpected expenses due to poor weather.

RELATED ARTICLE: Examples of Creative Ways to Generate Revenues

1. Initiate a fund-raiser, either one per season or one per school year, for which the athletes will seek sponsors for an activity. Football coaches often use "Lift-a-thons" for which sponsors pledge a certain amount of money for each pound lifted. Basketball coaches accomplish the same purpose with free throws; wrestling coaches, takedowns; and track coaches, laps.

2. Institute a pay-to-play policy which obligates each athlete to pay a nominal fee ($10 to 100) to participate ($50 is the national average).

3. Obtain a corporate sponsorship. For example, Boston University offers in-ice logos for $20,000 and blue line in-ice script logos for $10,000 to businesses, who may also choose to place their company imprint on turnstile sleeves, hallway banners, program inserts, scorers' tables and team seat backs, and the university web site.

4. Seek donations from local businesses and individuals, especially alumni (endowments).

5. Sell old uniforms, equipment, warm-ups, on an "as is" basis.

6. Host an open golf, wrestling, tennis, or softball tournament in the off-season, with the participants paying an entry fee and the workers and officials volunteering.

7. Work closely with the Booster Club. Request their financial help when it comes time to order new uniforms or special equipment.

8. Publicize all competitions to increase gate attendance. Individual games may be sponsored, along with half-time contests and the sale of media guides.

9. Sell sports programs on a weekly, monthly or seasonal basis as a source of revenue for teams and booster clubs. Programs can be 24- to 36-page booklets consisting of team photos, rosters, advertising, weekly updates and statistics on teams and players. Advertising revenue can support the costs of publication, distribution and editorial work.

10. Host a celebrity or alumni event where ticket buyers, sponsors, and spectators pay a fee to participate.

BY KEITH T. MANOS 

Richmond Heights High School 

Cleveland (OH)