Dear
Track and Field Parents and Athletes:
The
concept of an Athletic Donation is symtomatic of the times we live in.
There never seems to be enough money
to do the things that are necessary or needed. The schools are in
a period of delayed gratification. That is, often we
have to wait well after a need arises, before we can spend money
to fix it. The Athletic Donation was born out of a
need to continue the athletic programs as the district's revenue
has not keep up with the spending need. Some
districts and/or schools have cut sports, sometimes entirely, but
most often they try to do with less. The Athletic
Donation is an effort to keep our programs at a reasonable level.
The donation helps to keep all of the sports at
Cupertino High School intact. Many people believe that only
footbal benefits, but that is simply not true. This belief
leads many parents to only support the sport(s) that their child
participates in. On the one hand that is necessary and
makes sense. However, the bigger picture is that we must also
support the other sports. Every program contributes to
the good of the other programs, and thus to the overall good of
the school. Your $60 means that one third of it, $20,
will go back to the sport for which has been donated. The
athletic department supports all of the sports with the rest,
from buying uniforms to various equipment needs. So in the end
more than one third of your donation will go back to
the sport.
I
use the money from the donations to help pay for our fees at
invitationals first. If there is any left over, it is used to
pay for equipment. It is part of our budgetary
process. It is in the team's interest that we have a high
percentage of
donations. I have not yet had to cut my invitational
entries due to fund constraints. But, if we do not get enough
donations, then that will happen. I do not like to do
fundraisers because everyone is doing them and they are a drain
on our time and energy. If we have a high donation rate,
then we can cover our fees and buy some equipment. No
team can be self-supporting.
My
very strong recommendation is that you make the suggested donation to
the Athletic Department. You can give
more than the suggested $60. You may also give directly to
the Track & Field team, but that should be secondary.
Paul
Armstrong
Head
Track and Cross Country Coach