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Yakima School District reports $700,000 middle-school athletics budget, 2,073 season entries and transportation strain
Summary
Sarah Cordova told the board the district runs an intramural middle-school league across four schools, spent about $700,000 on the program last year (fully levy funded), and reported transportation costs and coach staffing as constraints on expanding competition beyond district schools.
Sarah Cordova, the district’s athletics director for middle schools, told the Yakima School District Board of Directors on Jan. 21 that the district operates intramural athletics for grades 6–8 across four middle schools and spent just under $700,000 on the program last year, funded entirely by the school-levy.
Cordova said the Yakima Middle School Athletic League is formed by the district’s four middle schools and that all middle-school students are eligible to participate at no cost. “All YSD middle school students are eligible to participate with athletics at no cost to the student or the families,” Cordova said.
Cordova gave a season-by-season breakdown: fall sports included football, fast-pitch softball, volleyball, cross country and boys soccer; winter 1 included girls basketball and wrestling (wrestling open to boys and girls); winter 2 included boys basketball and girls bowling; spring included track and field, girls soccer and baseball. Cordova reported 145 coaches working across seasons and four athletic directors—Sherry Carroll (Franklin), Artemio Chavez (Lewis & Clark), Gonzalo Gahan (Washington) and John Gonzales (Wilson).
Participation totals for the reporting period were 1,062 girls and 1,011 boys, a combined 2,073 season entries; Cordova cautioned that number counts duplicate participants who play multiple seasons. She said the district spent about $48,000 on transportation for middle-school athletics last year and noted that transportation constraints—driver shortages and costs—were the key reason a 2021–22 attempt to join an external league failed. “Due to the transportation constraints, whether it had to do with the lack of drivers or just the cost, we were unable to finish out that school year,” she said.
Cordova calculated a per-athlete cost by dividing the season-entry total into the program budget, yielding about $333.80 per participant-season. She also distributed program documents including a team worksheet, student-athlete registration form and a middle-school athletics operations procedure (OP 2153).
The board did not vote on changes to the athletics program at the meeting; Cordova’s presentation was informational.
