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Mid-level athletic participation down
Staff Writer While participation numbers for Brainerd High School fall athletics programs have been nearly 90 percent of last year's numbers, the middle level athletics program has so far experienced a 62 percent decline from last year.
As of Wednesday, there were 187 middle level students enrolled for fall sports, compared to 494 students last year.
But those numbers may be deceiving, Brainerd athletics director Todd Selk told the school board curriculum committee Wednesday.
Selk said these are early participation figures and since middle school athletics programs begin when school starts in September, many students are simply not signed up yet.
Selk said the district tried to get the message out about the importance of early registration because of the new increased fees to financially support the programs but there was no deadline for middle school athletics.
Selk said two years ago the middle level athletic budget was about $260,000. For the current year, the budget is $173,800, including a reduction from 80 coaching positions last year to 47 coaches now. He said he and his staff are not necessarily alarmed yet but he said in addition to existing budget cuts leading into the fall sports season, the district has chosen not to rehire several assistant coaching positions at the start of the season.
However, Selk said there is a strong indication that at least some of these positions may still be retained as participation levels increase.
Board member Ruth Gmeinder encouraged all middle level students interested in participating in fall sports to register. Selk said he's concerned about ninth-grade athletic participation, that if students don't get involved in sports by that time, it's less likely they'll start a sport in 10th or 11th grades.
As of last week, there were 393 high school students participating in fall sports, compared to 445 students last fall. Selk said he and his staff are encouraged by these numbers but they also need to see where the spring and winter season participation levels fall. He said about one in three student athletes are being helped with participation fees by Warrior Way Inc., either by partial or full scholarships.
Selk said fall athletes just wrapped up their fall fundraiser. The district has budgeted $100,000 for three fundraisers this year for the athletics and activities department. Selk said students raised about $34,000. Last year they had raised about $40,000 with the same fall fundraiser.
Selk said the feedback he's received from students and coaches was that it was a difficult fundraising process this fall, but they still achieved good numbers. Selk said this is a tribute to the community.
"In light of the way things are, they still chose to support us," said Selk.
The committee also was provided results from the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments-II and Adequate Yearly Progress reports from the state Department of Education. The committee learned that 560 advanced placement exams were administered to AP students at BHS last spring and of those tests, taken by 304 students, 74 percent achieved a score of three or higher. This allowed those students to receive college credit for the classes.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
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