Massapequa to add new teams; district receives input on which sports to choose
by Andrew Coen

If one happened to pass by the Berner Middle School baseball field in early March on any given year they would likely find a diamond packed with nearly 100 7th and 8th graders show casing their batting and fielding skills in the hope of obtaining one of the only 20 spots available on the team. A similar scene would be found in the middle school gymnasium in November, with dozens of youngsters pouring their sweat out on the floor trying to make the basketball team.

With enrollment very high in the Massapequa School District, and the interest in playing sports as popular as ever, many students leave tryouts disappointed for being cut from their favorite sport. In order to help alleviate the problem, district officials are planning to add two additional middle school teams next fall, but whether the expansion should include the most popular sports or alternative activities not currently offered is a debate that is currently being waged within the athletic community.

At a meeting of district and community athletic organizations Jan. 16, the district asked for ideas on how to determine which sports should be added. Some parents, who formed the Massapequa Inter Sports Committee, pressed the school district a year ago to add more teams to the middle school, but district officials said the budget process had already been completed so they would need to hold off on expanding the sports program until the 2007-08 school year.

"As with most things in life this isn't easy," said Dr. Maureen Flaherty, school superintendent during the Jan. 16 meeting as she discussed how the decision to add sports teams would be made. "It's really not possible to make everyone happy."

Flaherty decided to include two new teams for the 2007/08 budget and members of the various community athletic organizations who attended the meeting had a wide range of opinions on how and which sports to add.

The cost of adding the new teams is estimated at $15,000 by district officials, and could include separate 7th and 8th grade squads to boost the opportunities for the students.

Flaherty pointed out that the district already has a comprehensive athletics program that fields 77 teams in 28 different sports, and in some cases is one of only a few districts to offer separate 9th grade teams. But the district still gets many more athletic hopefuls than they can put on the teams each season.

One reason for the high number of cuts is that the enrollment at the middle school with 720 students in the sixth grade, 767 seventh graders and 710 enrolled in the eighth grade; is high and growing.

District officials have compiled tryout data to determine what the high interest sports are, and sought advice from community athletic leaders to determine if that should be the main criteria for deciding which sports to add. Some of the middle school teams the district is considering adding are baseball, gymnastics, cross country, basketball, soccer, girls volleyball and lacrosse.

"There are large numbers in particular sports that we have to take a look at," said Massapequa Athletic Director Igor Bishko during the meeting. "I'm willing to go in any direction that will give these opportunities to our kids."

Former middle school baseball coach Ed Hoffman said he estimates that of the many students who are cut each year, seven or eight were bubble players who could have made an impact on the team and could benefit from having an extra team. He said one of the players cut went on to make the high school team and now plays Division 1 college baseball.

Flaherty asked each participant at the meeting to answer whether the district should add the sports based on numbers and popularity or on the objective of developing a comprehensive athletic program that would expand non-traditional sports opportunities such as middle school gymnastics or cross country.

Massapequa varsity girls coach Kerry Jacobs said she was mixed on what direction to go since varsity teams could use some "feeder programs" with extra teams at the middle school but that she also understands the perspective of granting more opportunities with sports the district currently does not offer.

"The opportunities should be there for all the sports," said Jacobs. "I could go both ways."

Craig Garland, president of the Massapequa Coast Little League, who formed the Massapequa Inter Sports Committee last year to seek additional teams, said the sports with the most students trying out and getting cut should be the ones added in order to give youngsters an opportunity to fulfill their dream of playing their favorite sport for their school. He said playing in an outside youth league does not compare to being able to represent one's school, even if it eventually means they might get cut from varsity down the road.

He expressed frustration that more teams can't be added pointing out that out of a $142 million budget, adding 10 teams would only cost around $85,000. "A lot of kids lose interest because they get cut," said Garland. "You have to give kids an opportunity."

District officials have said they would love to add as many teams as they can, but are limited by logistics particularly with indoor sports since there is not enough adequate space to house practices in the current facilities.

Other issues mentioned at the Jan. 16 meeting that complicate adding extra teams include whether adequate transportation can be provided for potential new outdoors teams that may have to practice and attend games off campus. Dr. Flaherty also said she does not want to compromise the integrity of the current intramural sports programs at the elementary and middle schools by adding new teams that might compete for space.

Middle school parent Scott Bauer said more teams would be nice but added that he understands the difficulty in terms of money and logistics for adding them.

"There is so much participation, so much competition that many kids get turned away," said Bauer. "It's highly competitive."

Dr. Flaherty said she will relay the feedback she heard to the school board and try to form a recommendation for which teams to add as the budget pro- cess for 2007/08 moves forward. The school board has until April 20 to adopt a budget proposal that will be voted on by the public on May 15.

"We clearly did not come up with a definitive answer," said Flaherty at the end of the meeting. "It's a complicated problem."

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