Steelers’ LaMarr Woodley Covers Pay-To-Play Fees For All Saginaw (Mich.) Public Schools

August 17, 2012 /
MLive.com, Hugh Bernreuter

http://www.mlive.com/sports/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/08/pittsburgh_steelers_linebacker_5.html

SAGINAW, MI —Dan Szatkowski spent the last two weeks watching the Summer Olympics.

So he knows a gold-medal cheer when he hears one.

He heard one Tuesday night.

The Saginaw High athletic director joined in the cheers when it was announced to all the Saginaw Public School coaches that former Saginaw High star LaMarr Woodley had donated $60,000 to cover the participation fees for every Saginaw Public Schools student-athlete.

“The whole place erupted,” Szatkowski said. “It was electric. It was a gold-medal cheer.”

When the Saginaw Public Schools athletic department budget was cut, the school district opted to charge pay-to-participate fees for its middle school, junior high and high school athletes. For a high school athlete, participation fees were $75 per school year.

“People can make the argument that it wasn’t going to hurt participation, but it was,” Szatkowski said. “Because of this, kids will have an opportunity to participate, an opportunity to be part of a team. People don’t understand how important that is.

“Fall sports practice has been going on for over a week. I’ve seen the numbers. They’re low. This is one block removed for kids to participate. Hopefully, with this taken care of, we’ll see more kids playing.”

Woodley, a Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, donated the money for the entire school district, not just his alma mater.

“What a blessing,” Szatkowski said. “He did it for all the kids in Saginaw, not just Saginaw High. It’s for Arthur Hill, SASA, Willie Thompson, Arthur Eddy … all the schools.

“It makes me proud to know he’s a product of Saginaw. He understands what’s going on. He knows what it means to be a Trojan.”

The donation made Arthur Hill football coach Will Luzar a temporary Saginaw High fan.

“It was just amazing,” Luzar said. “It’s not a Saginaw High-Arthur Hill thing. It’s a person going out of his way to help kids in the City of Saginaw. It’s a huge, generous move.

“Even if it’s only for this year, it gives families a year to prepare for next year, to save money so they can afford to pay the fees themselves next year.”

Luzar, who has always been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, hopes the donation entices more players to come out for football.

“I’m not sure if it hurt the numbers, but I would assume it did,” Luzar said. “Our numbers are very low. We have 32 on varsity, but only 14 on our JV team.”

Arthur Hill athletic director Fred Townsend believes the numbers would have been similar to the numbers from last school year, but he is happy one roadblock was removed.

“This reveals Woodley’s character and speaks a lot about how he was raised … to give back,” Townsend said. “People might say that since he makes a lot of money, it’s not a big deal. But it is.

“There are a lot of millionaires out there who make no impact on their community. But LaMarr Woodley has gone out of his way to make a tremendous impact on his community.”

Townsend, however, hopes Saginaw’s families don’t get too comfortable and expect other people to step forward every year. Saginaw’s pay-to-participation actually began during the 2011-12 school year, but Magic Johnson, as part of a Sodexo Magic contribution, paid for the students’ participation.

“Magic came through for us last year, Woodley this year,” Townsend said. “This gives families a year to find ways to pay. It gives teams a year to fundraise. They should see this as a one-year gift and use this time to get ready for next year, because there’s nothing that says someone else is going to step up for them again.”

Szatkowski wants to send a big thank-you card to Woodley, but he knows the 2003 Saginaw High graduate doesn’t expect any recognition for the gift.

“If you know him, you know he’s not doing it to see his name in the paper,” Szatkowski said. “He’s beyond that. What a great message this sends to the kids, to the families, to the other people in the city and even the state.

“It’s a tough time, but here’s a professional player who gets it. This is a big deal. He’s providing the means for kids to participate. What’s the price you can put on that? What price do you put on an experience? LaMarr Woodley is providing for that experience.”


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