City proposal, District 1 sports at minimal cost

A proposal to continue District 1 athletics operated by the Yuma Parks and Recreation Department could save the program for the 2009/2010 academic year, according to an administration official.

Associate Superintendent Tom Hurt presented a tentative plan to the District 1 core committee who met for the first time Tuesday at district offices to discuss a plan to save sports for next year.

"I support what you want to do, we want to save our children for sports," Hurt told the committee, "I met with the city and it will cost a little money but Parks and Rec can operate a program for three sports."

"But these are just proposals. This is your group and you make the adjustments on them."

According to Hurt, the proposal would have softball for boys and girls in the fall with a five team league for 7th and 8th grades. During the winter there will be basketball for boys and girls with five teams each for 7th and 8th grades. In the spring there will be girls volleyball with five teams for 7th and 8th grades.

The softball would be held at Joe Henry Athletic Filed with boys playing two days a week and girls playing two days a week. The league would be 6 1/2 weeks with each team having eight games with double elimination playoffs. The city will be responsible for scheduling games, umpires, and on-site supervision. The cost of the program would be $7, 894, Hurt noted.

Basketball would run similarly with teams competing at middle school gyms, Hurt added. The city would be responsible for scheduling of games, on-site supervision and officials. The cost would be $4,805.

"These are real leagues not intermurals but competitive leagues," Hurt, who formerly coached football at Yuma High School, said.

Hurt also said after speaking with some supporters of the proposal there could be an addition, wrestling teams for boys in the winter that would require a $5 per player pay-as-you-play fee and a boys and girls winter soccer league with a $20 per player pay-as-you-play fee.

"This is a parent organization and I'm not going to drive it," Hurt said. "But I've been in school athletics all my life and I'm here to help you."

He added, that sports has a positive effect on students that motivates them to achieve academically and he had seen it work, as he required all his players to maintain minimum grade standards to be eligible.

Three of the five members of the core committee, Tami Harmon, Doug Terhark, and Debbie Martinez expressed interest in Hurt's proposal but made no commitment. A.J. Mosqueda and Jeanette Arviso the other committee members were unable to attend the meeting.

Terhark, a certified public accountant, again suggested taking advantage of Arizona's tax credit law that allows couples a dollar-for-dollar donation of $400 for couples and $200 for singles to be dedicated toward school extra-curricular activities that costs the taxpayer nothing, he stressed.

 And with just 500 taxpayers taking the $400 credit that would make $200,000, far more than the $165,000 District 1 spent this year on athletics, he noted. It is important for parents of children still in elementary schools to consider taking the tax credit in order to save middle school sports for their children when they reach their early teen years, he pointed out.

Hurt also suggested the committee appeal to service clubs such as the Rotary, Optimist Clubs and Caballeros de Yuma to help sponsor athletics as an alternative funding source.

Earlier in the evening, the  District 1 governing board unanimously voted 5 to 0 to approve of a proposed general budget of $45 million. Board President Greg Wilkinson cautioned, this amount sets the maximum spending limits and once the state budget is finally adopted there could be a 5 to 12 percent reduction in state aid and the district would need to revise its spending plan accordingly.