Balancing Budgets: How Does Your Athletic Department Compare

Finding Qualified Coaches

On par with having enough time in the day to complete all tasks as a “most-concerned” item is that athletic directors are having more trouble finding qualified coaches. As money is pulled away from athletics, there is less to pay the coaches, which means experienced leaders are leaving the industry and newcomers do not want to give up their time for a lack of funds.

One athletic director suggested that finding qualified coaches is even more difficult as new sports are added. “It is hard in a small school system likes ours, since we have very little teacher turnover, to find teaching spots for those programs such as soccer, wrestling and volleyball. One potential solution is to expand the search for community coaches but the qualified pool for those sports is low as well. Increasing the pay for coaches would help with the retention of coaches but the budget crunch is causing the school system to cut down to the minimum on teacher slots, which decreases the opportunities to hire coaches.”

Athlete Specialization

One topic that rated high in terms of concern, even more so than “Problem With Parents,” turned out to be “Athletic Specialization.” It seems as if the days of the three-sport athlete are almost over and it isn’t sitting well with athletic directors. This topic ranked fourth when it came to areas where athletic directors are “most concerned.”

In an educational environment, being well-rounded is part of the overall school experience. Now, athletes are picking a sport and focusing only on it in the hopes of securing a college scholarship. Athletic directors commented they want their students to take part in as many activities as they desire to increase their experiences.

At smaller high schools, specialization is becoming a major problem due to the already-limited athlete pool. Typically, if there is a player good enough to specialize in basketball, he also has the skills also to compete in football, soccer, track or baseball.  A female athlete who specializes now is potentially taking away from the soccer, softball, volleyball, gymnastics or track teams.

As one athletic director said, and was echoed by several others, “Playing multiple sports helps an athlete’s overall development. Plus, we will have a hard time competing at several sports if we do not share our athletes.”

DEMOGRAPHICS

• 366 athletic-director respondents
• Average number of schools administered: 2.3
• Average enrollment size: 1,035.83
• Average number of coaches supervised: 42.85
• Average annual budget: $253,975.46
• Other duties: Coach (60.1%); Teacher (53.8%); Vice Principal (24.1%); Guidance Counselor (2.8%)

NEW SPORT ADDITIONS

Topping the list of new sports expected to be added to high school athletic programs are Lacrosse, Golf, Track/Cross-Country, Swimming/Diving and Volleyball.

CAPITAL PROJECTS

Over the next 3 years, the large-scale high-school athletic projects currently under greatest consideration are Court Resurfacing (31.5%), Track & Field Resurfacing (25.7%), Artificial Turf (15.7%) and Gymnasium Construction (12.6%).

Changes in Athletic Department Spending—Enrollment Size

	Less than 500	501-1,499	1,500 or More
Increase	12.5%	9.7%	11.7%
Little or No Change	56.7%	47.3%	40.3%
Decrease	30.8%	43%	48.0%