Brace for day the ax falls on school sports

The high school football season kicks off tonight — a bit earlier than normal but not noticeably different from past years. Likewise, high school athletes throughout the area are preparing to compete in cross country, water polo, girls volleyball and other sports.

Why is this noteworthy? Because only a few months ago, there was a possibility that high school sports would have to be dramatically reduced or significantly realigned as part of massive budget cuts.

But while the budget crunch took its toll on many areas of education — resulting in everything from larger class sizes to shorter school years — high school sports programs escaped virtually unscathed.

In fact, only two districts in the Sac-Joaquin Section of the California Interscholastic Federation — Elk Grove and Fairfield-Suisun Bay — even considered radical changes. Elk Grove dropped all freshmen sports for this year; Fairfield trustees voted to eliminate all high school sports but retracted in the face of huge community opposition and outcry.

Locally, high school sports were never seriously threatened.

One reason for that is that coaches worked together to identify expense reductions.

In Modesto City Schools, for example, coaching stipends were reduced for the second straight year. We applaud the many coaches who have continued on because of their love of their sport and of young people.

Another reason to try to keep sports intact is that they are a magnet that draws — and keeps — many students in school. Some who aren't academically inclined go to school and work to keep their grades up to remain eligible for sports.

And athletics also promote physical fitness and teamwork.

That said, nearly every school district anticipates deeper budget cuts for at least the next two years. We believe the day will come when the community and school boards will have to weigh the merits of sports against other components of school. That's when people will need to look at things such as:

• How many young people participate in sports? What percentage of the total student body at a given school?

• How does the value of sports stand up against things such as access to libraries and special classes, be they remedial or accelerated?

• Are the requests for contributions and the push for fund-raising going too far, to the point that some schools might be violating the ban against "pay to play"? That very issue has surfaced in San Diego.

A 1984 California Supreme Court decision, Hartzell vs. Connell, prohibits public schools from charging students to participate in extracurricular activities. The ruling grew out of a situation in Santa Barbara when a tight budget led schools to start imposing sports fees.

As for this school year, let the games begin. And because it can't be a winning season for everyone, we'll simply hope for few injuries, plenty of sportsmanship, and a season of enjoyment for the hundreds of student athletes and their fans.