When attending a Westside athletic event, students might find themselves asking, “where does all the athletic money go?” This was the case for junior volleyball player Jordan Bowen.
“Football probably brings in the most money with the attendance and concessions, but where does all of the money they make go?” Bowen said.
Tom Kerkman, Westside’s athletic director, hopes to clear up some misconceptions regarding athletic spending.
“The money basically goes to equipment, uniforms and improvements to the programs,” Kerkman said.
Kerkman feels that people don’t fully realize what it takes to host a game. There are many more costs and expectations than one would think.
“When volleyball and football play on the same night volleyball isn’t going to make any money,” Kerkman said. “You still have the costs of two referees, two line judges, you’re paying for ticket takers and all sorts of other things. You’re lucky if you break even at any game because of all the hidden costs.”
Kerkman finds that sometimes, the sports that are less popular to attend sometimes don’t break even with all of the costs to hold the event.
“Almost all of our lower level games we lose money. Also, when we play some teams that don’t bring in anybody we lose money,” Kerkman said. “Like for example the football team once played a game where there were only twenty people on the visitor’s side.”
Bowen said she finds that football has much more money coming in from outside places and that should affect the amount they get from the school.
“Especially for football you see a lot of donations from outside donors that are specifically for football,” Bowen said. “Other sports don’t get enough appreciation and it seems like they don’t receive as much money.”
It may appear that some sports receive more attention or more funds to some students, and Kerkman agrees. Kerkman does feel that the athletic department works hard trying to balance what is fair for each team individually.
“I do, I mean football costs a lot of money so obviously they’re gonna get more money just because the equipment costs alone,” Kerkman said. “With sports you just try to be as fair as possible. You can’t be equitable but you can be fair.”
According to Kerkman, success of the teams can weigh pretty largely on how much a sport brings in. He said it surprises him when attendance doesn’t impact success.
“I think with the success of some of our other teams, that will help. We should do pretty good for the next couple of years,” Kerkman said. “Some sports just don’t draw as well, like our spring sports.”
Kerkman said Westside as a school does well with attendance.
“I think right now we’re in a pretty good spot at Westside. I think we have a good student body and our students follow our teams,” Kerkman said. “When you have a good student body then their parents and friends will come to the games as well.”
Kerkman hopes that Westside’s community will continue to make attendance rise.
“Being in a community like Westside, people feel an attraction to the high school,” Kerkman said. “I think kids growing up know they’re gonna go to Westside so they’ll want to go to games when they are in junior high and the elementary schools.”
