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Perfect GPA lifts Bruins' Janelle Goeres to
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Bruin women will kick off volleyball season with tourneys
CPRD
will take over
the reins of middle school
sports in Newberg |
The park district will assume responsibility for four
sports at Chehalem Valley and Mountain View |
By Gary Allen, Newberg Graphic news
editor
E-mail Gary at gallen@eaglenewspapers.com
|
The spring announcement by the Newberg School District that budget cuts
were forcing the elimination of the district’s funding for middle school sports had
some students, and their parents, in a panic.
The Chehalem Park and Recreation District wants people to know, however, that
four of those sports — football and volleyball in the fall, and basketball and
wrestling in the winter — will continue, but not without a cost to families.
Mike Garrity, CPRD sports technician, announced this week the park district
has begun taking registrations for football for seventh- and eighth-grade athletes, as
well as volleyball for sixth- through eighth-grade competitors. Both programs will cost
the CPRD about $7,000 each, Garrity said, requiring the park district to charge $99 per
participant for football and $75 for volleyball. The fees will cover insurance, officials,
equipment, administrative and other costs.
In the winter the CPRD will offer wrestling and basketball for seventh- and
eighth-grade athletes. Last year the fee for wresting was $30 and basketball was $78.
Garrity said with the help of the community the park district hopes to maintain those fees
this season.
“We are doing this to be responsive to our community, and would like to
coordinate resources with support from those who understand and are available,” he
said.
Garrity stressed that in the past the CPRD and the school district have
generally shared responsibility, funding and staffing for middle school sports.
“In 1989 we joined entities for football; the last two years CPRD has
jointly ran the basketball program,” he said. “This year that is not an option.
“We have also jointly ran the wrestling program with support form the
Mat Club and the (Newberg High School) Booster Club. Again, this year, we are hoping for
the same support.”
Spring track at the middle schools will be absorbed by the Chehalem Valley
Track Club.
What the CPRD is looking to the community for is threefold: encouraging youth
to participate; helping financially through sponsorships to help purchase and upgrade
equipment; and volunteer coaches, without which the programs would be impossible, Garrity
said.
The park district features two seventh-grade football teams at Chehalem
Valley and Mountain View middle schools that accommodate 36 to 40 kids; two eighth-grade
football teams at the same schools that will hold a combined 30 to 40 kids and four to
five volleyball teams at the middle schools that allow 80 to 100 girls to compete. The
CPRD has also invited C.S. Lewis Academy and Sherwood-area youth to participate in its
volleyball league.
Garrity said the school district attempted to work with the CPRD when it
became clear middle school sports were in danger. Cutting the sports saved the school
district $71,000 for the next school year.
“They did contact us, and it went back and forth for a month or so
before it was confirmed that CPRD would take over the operation of the athletic
programs,” Garrity said.
As in the past, the CPRD will continue its arrangements allowing it to use
school facilities for middle school sports.
Garrity said the CPRD will re-evaluate continuing to shoulder the burden of
producing middle school sports should it be necessary next year.
“Currently we are just looking at one year and one season at a
time,” he said. “We are sorry to see this happen and we strongly believe in
after-school sports for our youth, which in turn benefits the entire community by having
the kids in a healthy positive environment and not out looking for something to do. ...
“It will ... take the cooperation of the schools; they are allowing us
to use the facilities and equipment. This will create a tremendous additional work load
for the current sports and office staff at CPRD and we are all willing to put forth the
effort to make all of the programs a success and meet the needs of the community.”
Gear distribution for football will be Aug. 26 for eighth-grade players, Aug.
27 for seventh-grade at 6 p.m. in the Chehalem Valley Middle School gym. Practice starts
the first week of September and games start Sept. 13. Volleyball practice will start Sept.
10th for sixth, seventh- and eighth-grade players. For more information call the CPRD at
503-537-2909. |
|
From Aug. 9,
2003, Newberg Graphic
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