THE GAZETTE
Wednesday, August 13, 2014 b
Page A-10
NON-LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
Winning attitude starts with winning look, some say n
Booster clubs help some schools upgrade their equipment faster BY
ERIC GOLDWEIN STAFF WRITER
Look good. Feel good. Play good. It’s an adage that has Montgomery County high schools dipping into their athletic budgets so their football players can shine under the Friday night lights. County schools averaged about $8,725 in football equipment expenditures last year, according to Dr. William “Duke” Beattie, the school system’s director of systemwide athletics. Football uniforms, renewed at most county teams on three- to four-year cycles, can account for a significant portion of that. At Kensington’s Albert Einstein High School, the school paid $6,000 for 100 new home and road uniforms, said firstyear coach Neal Owens. “To me it represents a lot. A new look, a new attitude, hopefully a turnaround season,” said senior Damien Monroe, who wore used uniforms the past three seasons. “We kind of like the brand-new type of look and it definitely makes you feel bet-
GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
Albert Einstein High School football players Leeland Rowe (right) and Spencer Fye try on new uniforms July 28 at the Kensington school. ter.” Einstein’s sizable purchase isn’t just the cost of looking good. It’s the cost of playing well, too. According to Stephany Coakley, director at Maximum Mental Training Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based psy-
chology consulting firm, there is research suggesting that new attire can have a positive impact on performance. “In order to perform at a high level, you have to be confident and have self-esteem. And the way you look will facilitate
or debilitate your level of confidence,” Coakley said. Coaches and players echoed Coakley’s sentiments. “When they feel that they look good and they got the new uniforms and everything’s all bright and shiny, they’re go-
ing to come out with a swagger,” said Greg Kellner, coach of Bethesda’s Walter Johnson High School. “… That is something that the kids, they all talk about it.” County high schools averaged about $155,000 in total athletic expenditures during the 2013-14 academic year and all of them were provided sufficient, certified football safety equipment, according to Beattie. But there were discrepancies between the teams: average football expenditures ranged from $13,000 to $31,000 (average $21,000 for all county high schools), and booster club income ranged from $0 to $61,500 ($22,300 average), he said. “Some may be at a position where they can update things more frequently than others, but competitive disadvantages? I say absolutely not,” Beattie said. The Albert Einstein High School Sports Booster Club’s annual expenditures are about $25,000 — most going to uniforms, according to club president Mike Etherton. He said that if a team has a certain need, regardless of the sport, the booster club works with the school to purchase the equipment.
At John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, where the booster club is inactive, football coach Carlos Smith said the team has difficulty meeting some equipment demands. “We can get A, B, C and D but you might not get E, F,” Smith said. Springbrook High School faces similar challenges, said football coach Adam Bahr. The Springbrook Athletic Booster Club, which in past years has paid for new lights and video equipment, has a goal of raising about $10,000 for the upcoming year, said club co-president Rachel Spangenberg. “Fundraising in our community is extremely difficult, and the budget, to my understanding, doesn’t even come close to covering all the costs to all the teams,” said Bahr, a third-year coach at the Silver Spring school. Springbrook received 150 new football uniforms after winning a contest run by professional football player Pierre Garçon, but if not for the free uniforms, Bahr said, “We would be in tough shape.” egoldwein@gazette.net
Private funding helps build better facilities Several state grants also available to help fund projects
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BY TED BLACK STAFF WRITER
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Montgomery County Park and Planning maintains the baseball and softball fields at James H. Blake High School in Silver Spring, site of this American Legion game between Cissel Saxon Post 41 (Lawrence Johnson) and Wheaton Post 76 (Zeke Green) on July 1. Most public high schools, however, must maintain their athletic fields themselves.
County maintains some schools’ facilities n Park and Planning shares some of the fields at Blake High School BY
TIM O’DONNELL
SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
At most Montgomery County public high schools, coaches and athletic directors put in a lot of individual time and effort to keep athletic fields not only playable, but in excellent condition. Take for instance Germantown’s Seneca Valley High School, an athletics program that has enjoyed a lot of success, winning more state football championships than any other school in Maryland. According to Athletic Director Jesse Irvin, he and the coaches mow the grass and line the fields themselves. The football field at Seneca Valley consists of Bermuda grass, which is supplied by a private outside landscaping company, the Brickman Group. But once the sod is put down, it is up to Irvin and his coaches to maintain the field. “We’re not a school with a contract,” Irvin said. “The county doesn’t maintain our fields.” Despite the hard work and time commitment, Irvin believes having control over his own fields helps the school in the long run. “It gives us an advantage,” he said. “I believe we have one of the nicest grass fields in the county, and our kids love playing on it.” Although the county does not help maintain Seneca Valley’s fields, the Montgomery County Public School system does
“The fields are maintained throughout our offseason so that when we return to use on March 1, they are theoretically in playing condition already.” Jared Fribush, Blake athletic director provide some financial aid. “High schools, for the most part, provide for the maintenance for their athletic fields,” Dr. William “Duke” Beattie, Montgomery County’s director of system-wide athletics, said in an email to The Gazette. “...The school system periodically foots the bill for resurfacing a high school stadium field, doing about one school per year. The school system also takes care of resurfacing tracks and tennis courts.” So, while field maintenance is usually one of the top priorities for an athletics program, the schools must come up with their own ways to fund it completely. Some schools, most notably Silver Spring’s James H. Blake High School, have a unique relationship with Montgomery County Parks and Planning. Blake allows for Parks and Planning to permit the baseball and softball fields to be used for non-school athletic events in return for the maintenance of the baseball and softball fields, the practice softball field and lower practice field, used by the soccer and lacrosse teams. The lights at both the softball and baseball field are also maintained by Parks and Planning. “I do not have to budget for the main-
tenance of our game fields for baseball and softball,” Blake Athletic Director Jared Fribush said in an email to The Gazette. “...The fields are also maintained throughout our offseason, so that when we return to use on March 1, they are theoretically in playing condition already.” Fribush does believe the school loses some control over its fields. There are a number of permitted users, especially on the weekends, and the coaching staff must repair the field from that use. The biggest advantage that comes with the partnership is the lights on fields that usually don’t have them at public high schools, Fribush said. It allows the school to schedule a number of night games, allowing parents better opportunities to watch their children play. It also gives coaches the ability to hold practices later in the afternoon. Blake still must budget between $30,000 and $45,000 per year to pay for field maintenance, as the county does not maintain the Bermuda grass stadium or field hockey fields. All in all, Fribush acknowledged that it is a positive relationship for both the school and Parks and Planning and that Blake’s fields are in excellent condition.
With the school year set to begin this month and many of the fall sports being contested outdoors, high school athletes at Montgomery County Public Schools will, perhaps, be able to participate at facilities superior to those in neighboring Prince George’s County. In some instances, private funding paved the way for those differences. While a handful of MCPS high schools have transitioned from natural grass fields to artificial turf courtesy of the taxpayers, several schools have received upgrades that were largely privately-funded. Thomas S. Wootton High School has a turf field that cost $1.3 million, of which $900,000 was paid for by the Bethesda Soccer Club. Wootton parents raised another $200,000 and the taxpayers paid the remaining $200,000, according to Bethesda Soccer Club president Greg Dillon. “It was amazing what the parent booster club could do,” Wootton soccer coach Keith Yanity said. “They probably campaigned for a year to raise the money. They did everything from holding fundraisers to literally going door-to-door. It’s certainly not something that every school or community can do.” During the past three years, the Montgomery County Board of Education oversaw more than 100 projects that were privately funded, nearly 20 percent of which cost $10,000 or more. Damascus High School replaced its scoreboard at a cost of $110,000 and Winston Churchill got a new one for $80,000, with both schools generating the revenue through private donations and parent-teacher association fun-
draising efforts, according to the Montgomery County Board of Education President Phil Kauffman. “Damascus parents and alumni have always been very passionate about their athletic programs, especially football,” Damascus High School Athletic Director Joe Doody said. “It probably wasn’t easy for them to raise the money, but they all had a goal in mind. You probably see that a lot more often at private schools where an alum just shows up one day and writes the school a check for a new field or new gym.” Several other of the county’s public high schools also received private funds for athletic venue improvements over the last four years. While none of them compare to the $1.3 million turf field at Wootton, a handful of schools received roughly $200,000 in private funds to install or replace equipment for athletic events, according to Kauffman, after the board approved a total budget of $2.28 million for the upcoming fiscal year. The Northwest High School PTA paid $40,000 for the school’s electronic scoreboard upgrade. Clarksburg’s booster club raised $30,000 to build new dugouts for the baseball and softball teams. Poolesville’s booster club ponied up $25,000 for a press box and storage shed. Seneca Valley purchased a new scoreboard for $22,000 thanks to its independent activity fund. Montgomery Blair’s booster club raised $17,500 to replace its stadium scoreboard. All Maryland public schools can apply for grants through the Maryland State Department of Education. Each year over 50 companies and an equal number of family foundations/ memorial funds provide grants and other sources of funding, according to the department’s website. tblack@gazette.net
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Rob Osborne of Germantown (right), who played high school football at Damascus and Clarksburg, works out with former Washington Redskins player Jonathan Combs on July 29 at Thomas S. Wootton High School.