Booster clubs, cash help create sports haves, have-nots

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.thenewstribune.com/548/story/45098.html

Booster clubs, cash help create sports haves, have-nots

ERIC D. WILLIAMS; The News Tribune
Published: April 22nd, 2007 01:00 AM



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LUI KIT WONG/THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Funds raised by the sports booster club have helped turn an old metal shop garage into a weight room at Gig Harbor High School. Some $90,000 has been spent on it, says football coach Darren McKay.

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JOHN FROSCHAUER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE
Bellevue High School football coach Butch Goncharoff got a $60,000 stipend from the school’s football booster club in 2005, supplementing the $5,600 salary he receives from the school district. He’s won five state titles and has an 80-7 record over seven years.


Tom Castle says it’s not about wins and losses.
Maybe so, but since Butch Goncharoff took over the Bellevue High School football program seven years ago, the Wolverines have amassed an 80-7 record and five state titles.

“Itâ€Â

[master]

Very interesting article. I hope you can post a follow-up that tells what was decided or at least what was discussed at the meeting.

- master

[rainbowgirl28]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/preps/312825_prep24.html

Schools must OK stipends
Bellevue coach's $60,000 grant spurred WIAA ruling

By JON NAITO
P-I REPORTER

AUBURN -- It did not officially have a name. On the agenda handed out Monday morning it was simply to be the 12th amendment presented during the morning session.

Those in attendance might have called it the "Bellevue Rule."

At the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association's representative assembly meeting at Emerald Downs on Monday, the obvious attention-getter in an otherwise normal meeting was the proposed amendment that would require any gifts or stipends given to a high school coach in the state that exceeded $500 in a season be subject to approval by a school board or a board of directors.

The measure, which passed by a vote of 49-4, was in no small part driven by the unparalleled success enjoyed by the Bellevue High School football team, winners of five of the past six Class 3A state championships.

It was not the Wolverines' on-field success that concerned the WIAA, but what was happening away from it.

Bellevue coach Butch Goncharoff, the man largely responsible for the Wolverines' recent run of dominance, was at the middle of the storm, in particular the $60,000 stipend he received from the school's football booster club in 2005 in addition to the yearly salary he received from the Bellevue School District.

"I think the request from the Bellevue School District to have a broader understanding of what was going on across the state, and also to support the developing of something certainly helped be the catalyst," WIAA executive director Mike Colbrese said.

Colbrese was referring to the school district's request that the WIAA develop regulations and guidelines for how schools interact with booster clubs.

Following the inquiry from Bellevue, the WIAA sent out surveys to all its member schools and the nine districts last fall, and 84 percent of respondents favored some sort of regulation.

The amendment that passed Monday largely leaves the matter in the hands of local school boards. Under the new measure, schools appear to gain more oversight into the involvement of their booster clubs, but the rule applies only to gifts and money given to individual coaches, not entire programs or teams.

"I think it's the first step," Lakeside athletic director Ed Putnam said. "The schools ought to be involved in anything that involves pay to coaches. It deals with the whole parity issue. The haves and have-nots is not something we want to get into."

The intent of the rule, which goes into effect the first day of the coming fall sports season, is to give school boards autonomy to handle these matters as they see fit -- to self-police themselves -- but now with the official backing of the state's governing board for high school athletics.

In addition to tempering the appearance of competitive imbalances, the measure also would allow school boards to be made aware of what is surrounding their athletic programs, as the Bellevue School District learned when it was caught off-guard by Goncharoff's extra compensation.

It is a compromise that many of the 53 principals and athletic directors in attendance on Monday favor, though Putnam said, "I don't think we're done yet."

As for the role of booster clubs, most believe they are a vital, and often necessary, component of this era of high school athletics.

Financial constraints inhibit most schools' ability to pour money into athletics, and booster clubs can help supplement needs such as equipment, transportation, fees, and of course, compensation for coaches.

"I think booster clubs are awesome," Bellarmine Prep athletic director Ed Ploof said. "It gives parents and alumni an active role in promoting athletics in a time when money is tight for all schools. Having booster clubs helps programs either survive or even flourish. It's a positive thing for communities, within reason."

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.thenewstribune.com/548/story/46521.html

Boosters’ influence limited via 49-4 vote

ERIC D. WILLIAMS; The News Tribune
Published: April 24th, 2007 01:00 AM




On Monday, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association representative assembly overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the WIAA handbook that limits booster club involvement in high school sports.
The amendment requires local school boards to approve booster-club stipends over $500.

The representative assembly – a 53-person group of superintendents, high school administrators and athletic directors – passed 13 of the 20 proposed amendments during its annual meeting at Emerald Downs in Auburn.

“I thought it would pass,â€Â