Underfunded Sports
Sports is an important part of the high school experience for many students.

We strongly believe that the high school sports experience should be a positive one for every student who participates.

Some sports lend themselves to having large parent-oriented Booster Groups – especially football and baseball.

But students who participate in sports that have smaller squads or that draw fewer spectators have a right to have a positive experience as well.

Our Underfunded Sports initiative supports that positive experience for all PLHS teams in CIF-sanctioned sports that do not have a Booster Group of their own.

Funds are used to provide program benefits that have become standard in high school sports: a modest stipend for coaches (such stipends are limited by CIF rules), game-day uniforms, equipment, clinics, entry fees to additional tournaments, etc.

In essence, the Underfunded Sports initiative seeks to be the Booster Group for all high school athletes who do not have one.

This is not about building powerhouse teams in all sports. It is about making sure that every student engaged in athletics at PLHS has a positive experience – an experience that will carry forward into their adult lives. Won’t you help? Donate Now!

At school, we all want our kids to be involved in something. More and more, that “something” is sports. Boys Sports, Girls Sports, Varsity Sports, JV and Freshman Sports. Fall, Winter and Spring Sports. Team Sports—like basketball, soccer, and field hockey. Individual Sports—like golf, tennis, and swimming. We offer them all. But some are run on a financial shoestring.

It takes roughly $1,500 a year, above the district money, to offer a quality “infrastructure” in many of our sports. For example, approximately $1,500 to a typical sport will cover a modest stipend to a JV or Freshman coach, fees for added tournaments that can increase playing time by a third or more in a single season, a rotation of jerseys, specialized equipment for a unique position on the team, and replacement or upgrading of equipment prior to district funding.

Some of our sports have active Booster Groups in place. But in many sports, forming more booster groups just isn’t the answer. And so in those instances, the financial needs are being overlooked, coaches are foregoing their stipend and donating the funds, or our kids and their coaches are being turned into fund-raisers just so they can wear their school’s colors on the field of competition. That’s an unfair burden, both on the kids and on their coaches.

Many parents have been generous as their young athletes have participated—they have stepped-up during the season and donated money on the spot for equipment and uniforms. But prudent management calls for satisfying our financial needs in advance, so that we can attract and keep coaches, enter tournaments and begin each season with proper equipment.

Our student athletes need and deserve the comfort of knowing that their sport of choice will provide them what they need in order to compete on a “level playing field.”

Here are some of the sports that don’t have booster groups, and so will benefit from your donation: cross country (b,g), field hockey (g), volleyball (b), wrestling (b), basketball (b,g), softball (g), swimming (b,g), water polo (b,g), and track and field (b,g). Your donation will be directed to the underfunded sport that needs it the most at the time.

We’re proud of our coaches and athletes and of the volunteer spirit that has supported them so far. Please join us in helping them?

Please Donate Now!

For further information, please contact our Coordinator Whitney Skala:
wms@wmskalaesq.com
619-573-9250