This is the first in a series of stories examining what area athletic directors are faced with as they develop their budget proposals for the 2011-12 season.
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake has been one of the Suburban Council’s shining athletic star schools for many years. Its teams routinely contend for if not win Section II titles, and its athletes go on to successful collegiate careers.
The trick is maintaining that athletic excellence in the face of current economic conditions.
Athletic director Bob McGuire said the key is having the community directly support the 27 varsity teams offered every year through the various booster clubs.
`We wouldn’t be where we are without that,` said McGuire. `We have great, supportive parents. It’s a lot of work in terms of what our parents have had to sacrifice, and they’ve had to come up with a lot in terms of donations.`
McGuire said the school district pays what it can to keep each sport going, with the booster clubs making up the difference.
`We’re different than a lot of schools,` said McGuire. `In 90 percent of the schools, if it’s not in their budget, then they don’t do it. If it’s not in our school budget, then we look at what the booster clubs can do in terms of donations.`
The community support can only help so much, though. McGuire has had to make cuts to the interscholastic program the last few years, with the most drastic coming this year when all teams had to go from four to three levels.
`We cut either freshman or modified teams,` said McGuire. `What I did was I left it up to the individual varsity coaches to determine what level they wanted to drop.`
McGuire said he doesn’t foresee another drastic cut in programs offered this time, but more cuts will have to be made.
`What we’re looking at this year is we could lose an assistant coach, we could lose another level or another whole program, we could lose some equipment [funding] ` but it’s not as drastic as last year,` he said.
Any cuts made to the athletic program would be a collaborative decision between McGuire and his varsity coaches.
`[The coaches] do their individual budgets. They send their requisitions in to me to look at,` said McGuire. `They know things are tight, so they know to sharpen their pencils and think about what they are asking for before their make their budgets.`
Once the numbers are in from the coaches, McGuire said he will turn to the booster clubs to help with the rest. But he knows that with families struggling to make ends meet, it may be more difficult to get the community support Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake has offered in the past.
`We’re always concerned that there is only so much you can get from businesses, and there is only so much you can get from your [student-athletes’] parents,` said McGuire. `Where we’re at with our program, we need to get something from our parents but I can see this year where some parents will say they can’t do this anymore.`
McGuire will keep asking, though. He said he has to, as long as the economy continues to drift.
`I can see [donations] slowing down, but I don’t see it ending,` said McGuire.“
