More Than Ever, it's up to Parents to Pay for School Sports

Anna Caldwell counts herself lucky that her parents are so involved in keeping sports alive at her school.

The 15-year-old Northgate High School junior plays competitive water polo. And if it weren't for folks like her father, Kent Caldwell, raising money for the year-old Mt. Diablo Unified Athletic Foundation, she wouldn't have had the chance to garner the sports-related accolades and experiences she did this past school year.

Because if it weren't for the foundation, there would have been no money at all for sports in the Mt. Diablo unified School District.

"It's a huge part of the high school experience," said Anna. "We work really hard to keep our grades up to play."

One of those events to help Anna and other students play sports is being held all Memorial Day weekend in Concord. The 21st annual KidsFest, with rides, activities and educational events Saturday, Sunday and Monday, will benefit the Athletic Foundation. Money raised at the event will help students continue to play sports.

Some of Anna's peers depend on their chosen sport to get to college.

"It's stressful to think that it's an opportunity we could lose, just because there isn't enough money," she said.

While students like Anna keep up their grades, their parents are bracing to keep up another season of breakneck fundraising. Because by last year's measure, the district may not budget a dime for high school sports in the 2010-11 school year.

"When we were founded last year, our mission was to raise $700,000 to keep sports in schools," said Mark Lloyd, vice president of the athletic foundation. "We were told the district would spend zero, nothing, on sports. So we wound up raising $1.2 million. We surpassed our goal."

It's a success celebrated by the foundation, but there's no time to rest on those laurels, Lloyd said. For one thing, the foundation may not see some of the large donations it got this year. People can only give so much, Lloyd said.

"Now we have to raise another $1 million or whatever it costs to keep sports," he said. "We got to start all over again."

Though the foundation has formally committed to raise $200,000 a year, the actual cost to maintain the status quo will look a lot like another $1.2 million.

A combination of fundraising events like a 5K run and a Kids Festival – scheduled again for this weekend – helped the foundation break that million-dollar mark this school year. There were also transportation fees, gate fees, parents' contributions and a couple six-figure donations.

The beauty of moving into the second year since its formation is that the organization has learned how to make money, said Caldwell, Anna's dad.

"We saw what worked last year and we will continue to do that," he said. "At time same time, we have to think of more ways to raise money."

Even small payments help. About 30 percent of parents don't pay for their kids to play, so there's going to be a bigger push to get everyone to contribute, Caldwell said. If a family can't afford it, students can still play sports, but it shifts the onus onto other families to make up the difference.

"We're just trying to get everybody to pay. If they can't pay," Caldwell said. "It's up to the team and the booster clubs to make money."

This past year marked the first in district history that school sports relied so heavily on charity. The foundation will also look at securing as many grants as it can, organizers said.

"Somehow the money has to be raised – whether it's through grants or gifts – or we're not going to have sports," Caldwell said. "It's a sad situation."

The KidsFest takes place Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Mt. Diablo High School. Admission is $5.  Click here for more information.