When the Brandon varsity swim program started as a club five years ago, Lenora Williams said there were only about ten boys and girls, each, participating in the club.
Now in its third year as a varsity sport, the boys and girls swim teams have seen drastic increases in participation. However, Williams, whose daughter, Caitlan, is a junior on the Brandon girls swimming team, contends the Brandon school district is not doing its part to pay expenses for the program.
Whether the swim team’s expenses should be picked up by the Brandon school district or each individual parent was a topic residents and Brandon school board trustees discussed at the board’s Dec. 11 meeting. No action was taken on the matter, but Brandon School Board President Beth Nuccio said the board would take the matter to its Athletic Committee for review.
Williams said while she understands the district’s financial situation, she contends they should at least help fund the swim team.
‘The parents pay for everything,? Williams said, estimating the cost at about $380 per student each season. She said those expenses include such things as trainer’s fees, bathing suits and caps.
She also said other sports at Brandon are fully funded, although she could not recall which ones fit that description.
‘Most of the others have big budgets,? she said.
Nuccio said when the board originally approved the swim team becoming a varsity sport at their April 19 meeting, it was with the understanding the parents of each team member would pay for the team’s expenses, due to the district’s budget situation.
At the board’s Athletic Committee meeting March 10, 2004, the committee received an application for the then-Brandon Swimming Club to become an official varsity sport. The application included signed petitions from parents that they would pay for all the team’s expenses.
‘We haven’t got any richer in the past few years,? Nuccio said. ‘We know (Brandon swim) Coach (Todd) Duncan has built a tremendous program, but we don’t have any money.?
Nuccio said before the swim team became a varsity sport, the last program to earn that status was the Brandon hockey team, which she said was added at a time the district was in better financial shape.
As it is, Nuccio said the hockey team’s parents currently fund a good portion of the program.
‘Parents have to really fund all programs these days,? she said. ‘That’s just a reality of where we’re at.?
Former Brandon Athletic Director Larry Lamphere addressed the issue in a Feb. 21 letter to Superintendent Tom Miller. In the letter, Lamphere recommended the athletic department drop funding for the Brandon ski team (estimated at $6,500) due to declining participation, and also recommended the department fund the swim team for the 06-07 school year (estimated at between $11,000-13,000 per year), due to the ‘increased participation and overwhelming success? of the program.
The same day, residents Denise Cianek and Gail Carpenter addressed the board’s Athletic Committee (which at the time consisted of Nuccio, former trustee Mark Mahaffy and current trustee Chris Yuchasz) and requested the board fully fund the program.
The committee said they would table the request until the 2006-07 budget was finalized, at which time they would revisit that request.
At the Dec. 11 board meeting, Wayne Bartle, Brandon Township resident and parent of Brandon High School swimmer Tara, 16, also addressed the board.
‘Our general message was the school has all kinds of plans to create new sports facilities, and they’re pouring money into that, but the swim team, with about 85 students, cannot get athletic department funding,? he said.
Bartle said the school’s golf and ski teams, which have fewer athletes participating, are fully funded, yet the swim team, with the increased number of participants and which Bartle described as ‘the smartest athletes at the school,? are not getting any funding.
‘It seems they put money in other sports and leave us high and dry,? Bartle said, adding that Tara also participates on the girls soccer team, which has no such funding issues.
Williams said when the swim team first became a varsity sport three years ago, the Brandon All Sports Boosters provided the $5,000 salary for Duncan (also a teacher at Brandon High School) as well as the funding for pool time for the team.
However, Bartle said the Boosters have informed the swimmers they will not be able to fund the team as they have in the past.
For her part, Nuccio said the parents should touch base with the All Sports Boosters, and maybe become more involved with running Bingo games and concessions as a way of raising money for the program.
‘They provide a lot for the kids,? Nuccio said of the boosters. ‘It was set up to help fund or supplement the sports.?