WILMINGTON, MA — At last week’s meeting, the Wilmington School Committee received information from Interim Athletic Director Ed Harrison about the prospects of restarting the gymnastics program at the high school.
Harrison projected that it would cost the district approximately $8,900 to launch the team, representing slightly more than a 1% increase to the athletic department’s current expenses.
The gymnastics program would incur the following costs:
- Coaching: one head coach is required at the contractual rate of $5,584.
- Transportation: at least 5 league meets at $310 each (4-hour trips), plus an additional $650 for possible sectionals and states.
- Judges and Officials: approximately $650 for the season.
- Facility: Gym Street USA would commit to entering into a 3-year lease agreement with an escalating financial commitment — $500 for Season 1, $500 for Season 2, and $3,000 for Season 3. The team would NOT practice or have meets at WHS.
Harrison projects expenses of $8,989 for Year #2 and, due to the structuring of the Gym Street lease, $11,576 in Year #3.
Harrison anticipates 6-12 students would participate in the gymnastics program next year. He noted that the MIAA requires a minimum of 10 members to have a gymnastics team. If less than 10 students were interested, Wilmington could put in waivers so that interested 8th graders could participate. Harrison has also reached out to 5-6 nearby communities about the prospect of forming a cooperative team (similar to the North Reading-Wilmington swim team), but all of those schools’ teams already have sufficient numbers.
“We had an absolutely great gymnastics program in the 1990’s,” recalled Harrison. “Then we lost gymnastics to cheerleading… For whatever reason, girls preferred to cheer.”
Harrison noted interest in cheerleading has rebounded, however, with 8 Middlesex League schools currently offer gymnastics, including Burlington, Woburn, Winchester, Reading, Stoneham, Arlington, Wakefield and Melrose.
Harrison pointed out that boys would be allowed to participate on the team, but traditional male gymnastic events would not be part of the meets. Only one of the 8 Middlesex teams currently has a male gymnast. There are only 5 all-male gymnastic teams left in the entire state. As a result, most male gymnasts join club teams.
The School Committee took no action on the proposal and will consider it further as the FY2021 budget is developed.
Bigger Picture
Superintendent Dr. Glenn Brand is encouraging the School Committee to develop a procedure and set of criteria when evaluating current and proposed high school sports.
“Given the reality of limited budget allocations for the athletic sports program, it is my recommendation that, as a district, we should analyze our offerings annually,” wrote Brand in a memo to the Committee. “Such an approach seems financially prudent to ensure that we offer a program that reasonably meets the needs of our students while also providing the opportunity to balance the overall other budgetary needs of the district.”
The district spent $625,950 on its athletic program in FY2019. An additional $214,525 was spent through revolving account funds (e.g., gate receipts, sports summer camps).
When adding a sport, Brand would like the Committee to consider the following:
- Coaching Staff — costs are dictated by the contract
- Levels of Sport — will there be a varsity, JV and freshman program?
- Program Balance — adding a sport for one gender requires under Title IX to add appropriate economic resources for programming for the other gender. Generally speaking, new sports should have appeal across the school system and benefit both genders
- Facility — sports that practice and compete on campus do not incur additional facilities costs, however, those that require off site facilities (e.g. swimming, hockey) do.
- Transportation — there is a four hour charge for buses along with distance costs.
- Officials/Judges — these represent an additional cost.
- Uniforms — these have not been budgeted for in at least 8 years and, in most cases, come from the generosity of local providers. However, new programs would not automatically be included in the pipeline for donations and these costs would be incurred by participants.
- Feeder Program — will there could be a cohort of similar aged students who have an interest in a sport, it would be important to consider whether or not there is a feeder program or other opportunities that would allow the sport to sustain itself over time. It would also be important to consider any impact the implementation of certain sports programs may have on other already existing programs.
Brand is also proposing the following steps be taken for new sport proposals:
- A written proposal to the Athletic Director should be submitted no later than September 15 that includes information regarding total anticipated operating costs and total number of student-athletes who may be interested.
- Athletic Director will review the proposal and, if he/she supports, will bring it to the high school principal for consideration.
- Proposal is then shared with the Middlesex League to review and tentative approval.
- Proposal then goes to the Superintendent for review and a decision around whether to include a budget plan for the following fiscal year. This would need to take place by October 31.
- Proposal would then be presented to the School Committee as part of the budget plan and, if approved, would go into effect for the following school year.
The School Committee had no questions on Brand’s proposed guidelines or timeline.
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