Athletics budgeted over $83,000 across all sports for supplies, tournaments, transportation, and offi cials. According to Kryger, funds from Athletics for supplies, about nine percent of the $83,000, typically only “cover the basics, and it’s usually just balls for most sports, starter blocks for Track, or other things of that nature.” If the department does not budget any money to a sport for supplies, the Boosters or parent donations will cover any other needs. Coaches also submit funding requests to the Athletics Department. Alan Perry, the M-A Track and Field coach, says he determines how much funding Track and Field will need for their season by looking at “what equipment needs we have for the season. [Th en] I fi gure out what we’ll need as far as money for various “Nine percent of the $83,000, typically only ‘cover the basics, and it’s usually just balls for most sports, starter blocks for Track, or other things of that nature.’” other things, t-shirts, sweatshirts, meet entry fees, and build a little bit of an emergency budget in case things break.” In terms of how funding responsibilities are split between the Boosters and Athletics, Perry says that the Boosters fund more than the district, given the limited nature of district funds. Lauren Lesyna, the Varsity Girls Water Polo coach, agreed, saying that this year her team “got three times more from Boosters “Football, one of the sports that receives the most funding each year, requires over “$10,000 a year just to make sure [the equipment] is still safe.” than the school.” However, Lesyna noted that the Booster’s funds are “more for things like equipment or uniforms that are investments but that will be used for years to come” while the Athletics Department pays more for tournament and referee fees “based on the funding they received from the district and the needs of all of the M-A sports teams.” Tournaments account for around 13% of the total budget, with some sports receiving upwards of $1,000 or $2,000 while others receive nothing. Kryger explained, “many teams attend tournaments, but some, like Cross Country, are very tournament driven.” Besides invitationals there are only “a couple of meets per season.” Given the limited nature of the department’s funds, there are variations between the amounts of funding each sport receives for things like tournaments and supplies. Th is, Kryger explained, is based solely on the needs of the sport. Football, for example, as one of the sports that receives the most funding each year when compared to other boys sports, 24 requires over “$10,000 a year just to make sure [the equipment] is still safe. And then they have to buy new equipment to replace [unsafe equipment]. When you compare that to just about any other sport, nobody else has any expenses close to that.” Paying home offi cials, who referee games at M-A, makes up the majority, about 48% of the $83,000 spent on sports. Kryger explained he and Snow estimate how much money should be budgeted by “looking at the fees for each offi cial, how many offi cials are required for the diff erent games, and how many home games we might have for each sport.” Kryger said the schedules for fall sports are already set when the year’s budget is made in the summer, but the winter and spring schedules haven’t been fi nalized, so for those sports they “estimate based on saying roughly half of their games are going to be home games” Finally, $25,000, about 30% of the $83,000 is budgeted for transportation across all sports. “Tournaments account for around 13% of the total budget, with some sports receiving upwards of $1,000 or $2,000 while others receive nothing.” However, Kryger noted that in the past few years the expenses for transportation “have been closer to double that amount, so we’ve had to do some negotiating to cover that.” Kryger explained that “part of that is
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