Syracuse, NY – While the psychological and emotional tolls of coronavirus-canceled high school sports seasons may be impossible to measure, the dents these developments are putting into the budgets of state government associations are clear and painful.
Those groups are suffering a significant fiscal impact due to loss of revenue from state championships. Those events fund government groups, organizations that are responsible for planning and paying the bill for state tournaments.
For example, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association lost $ 300,000 when last year’s winter and spring sports and subsequent state tournaments were canceled. Another big loss could be imminent if soccer is not played this fall: NYSPHAA won $ 94,538 from the 2019 state semifinals and finals, money that came through ticket sales, souvenirs, sponsorships, and radio broadcasts.
Dr. Karissa Niehoff, executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations, addressed the issue from a national perspective in a Zoom call Monday afternoon. She said a survey of state associations revealed that the loss of winter and spring championships and state tournaments cost them between $ 100,000 and $ 2 million.
“State associations are very concerned,” he said. “If there are no fall championships and, say, soccer, state associations, some of them will be in a very difficult financial situation and will have to draw on reserves to fund future championships for at least one year”. This is not a one year problem. If there are no fall championships or fall sports for our schools and districts, there are revenue impacts that go well beyond this calendar year. ”
Six states / regions have already announced that they will not be playing fall soccer: California, District of Columbia, Nevada, New Mexico, Virginia and Washington. New York has delayed the start of its fall sports season until at least September 21. Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to announce next week if the schools will open on time.
Niehoff said he generally believes that most states will end up postponing the start of soccer because of their high risk of spreading the disease.
“I think frankly, we are in a lag pattern for higher risk sports like soccer, while other sports will participate in more traditional competition earlier,” he said. “I think it seems like an absolute gradual introduction. I think it seems like an extreme degree of physical exams and pre-participation questions. The questions about the potential Covid in the background and the physical conditioning because many of our children … our children have not been as physically active as they normally would be in the month of May.
“We are really concerned about acclimatization to the heat, about physical conditioning, about seeing what it’s like to return to preseason football. We recommend a kind of group approach, smaller groups of the same children at the beginning of the return. They share the equipment, as will their exercises. They don’t necessarily interact with the 70s in the first phase (of the return). The equipment, the weight room, everything that is shared is completely disinfected. “
A look at the state of fall sports seasons in high school across the country, effective July 27, 2020. (Courtesy of NFHS)
Niehoff noted that good news on the tax front is that high schools, unlike colleges, generally don’t spend a large portion of their overall district budgets on sports. She estimated that figure nationwide at 1.5 to 3 percent. That means that the pinch of money should not be used as justification to divide those activities.
“I would say very clearly to school districts, if they have financial problems, and they do it, with federal funds, with local funds, I do not think it is appropriate to consider co-curricular opportunities such as sports and performing arts as a place to recover lost funds. “, said. “The damage to the school culture, the damage to the growth and development of our children and to the community is not worth it. From a cultural perspective, I wouldn’t equate losing sport dollars with the reason we cut sport all together, or the performing arts. The damage is too great. “
Lindsay Kramer is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and syracuse.com. Do you have a comment or idea for a story? She can be contacted by email at [email protected].
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