Athletes Get a Bigger Boost

Years ago, community groups affiliated with high school athletic programs paid for the extras: jackets, banquets, rings for state champions. As student fees continue to rise, fund-raisers are paying for everything from coaches to buses. Now they’re paying for coaches and officials, and buying such things as equipment, uniforms and - in the case of the Foundation of Winthrop (MA) - buses. As Globe North area student-athletes returned to playing fields this week and began practicing for fall sports, they found shrunken school budgets and, in many cases, higher athletic user fees that had to be paid before an athlete could step onto the field. They also found their sports increasingly funded by booster clubs and nonprofit organizations that are turning their attention to the nuts and bolts of athletic programs, including, literally, the nuts and bolts of transportation. Over the past five years, the foundation has provided about $405,000 in direct aid to all of the town’s schools in grants both big and small, from $300 for art club supplies to $5,000 for a drama club adviser. One of the largest contributions made by the foundation each year has gone to the high school’s athletic program, to soften the blow of steadily growing athletic user fees. A year ago, the foundation contributed $50,000, which allowed the user fee to remain at $350 a sport. Over the past five years, the group also sought to raise a $1 million endowment that would have allowed the foundation to fund grants and programs in perpetuity. The drive fell short, but $300,000 was raised.