Donate-to-play falls short of goal

Spring sports teams are short $40,175 in funding, not including ASB donations, as of May 16. With the budget in mind, some levels for different sports may be cut for the 2011-2012 school year.

“We’re trying to raise the amount of awareness [for the need for donations] to all teams,” said Assistant Principal Jason Whiteman. “Some teams virtually do not donate at all.”

Because CVUSD does not fund CVHS for its athletic programs, Whiteman encourages athletes to  join the National Alumni Group for CVHS, which donates money back to the school for some purchases made by the student athletes.

“We’ve had about 15 or 25 students make $4,000 simply by being connected to this alumni program,” said Whiteman.

The spring teams with the greatest deficits this year include badminton, short $10,450 with about 14 percent of the players donating, and track, short $12,825 and with 41 percent of the athletes donating.

The overall deficit, including fall, winter, and spring sports, adds up to $68,113. This number includes the donations from outside sources other than players themselves.

According to Whiteman, no particular sport will be entirely cut the following school year. Instead, administration will consider eliminating some levels within each sport, such as freshman teams. The problem with that, however, is that there would be no training ground between middle school sports and JV and varsity sports, which helps develop players for more advanced athletics. Because CVHS only has one more year left in HAAL and will be joining “the big superleague,” unnamed as of now, with more advanced teams, there is concern over how new players will be trained if not by freshman teams.

“It is vital that the roots of our athletic foundation not be cut, because for every freshman that is denied an opportunity to partake in a sport of his or her choice, there is a varsity athlete who loses out on four years of camaraderie, fitness, and sportsmanship,” commented junior Bright Zhou, a varsity swimmer, about the current budget situation. “Therefore the future success of the Trojan athletes lies in the capable minds, bodies, and souls of these new Trojans.”

After his comment, Zhou continued with his personal anecdote, telling about the luck he had when he was a freshman and when CVHS still had sufficient money to fund extra athletes.

“As a freshman, I barely made the CVHS swim team. That was my first year competitively swimming, so I had no competitive swimming experience. I was actually supposed to be cut,” said Zhou with a chortle, “but the coach saw that I was dedicated. Not only had I gone to all of the regular tryouts, but I had also attended the makeup ones.”

After reflecting for a moment on the times he had on the swim team, Zhou said, “It was the experience of being on a high school sports team that allowed me to develop the confidence and humor necessary for making new friends. Not only did that season inspire a lifelong love for swimming, but it also changed me into the person that I am today.”