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Lockwood board hears athletics proposal to add high-school baseball; trustees ask for cost and logistics plan
Summary
District athletics staff outlined a proposal to start high-school baseball, citing roughly 30 interested students and estimated startup costs around $20,000–$30,000; trustees asked for detailed cost and scheduling plans before a formal decision in spring.
An athletics staff member presented a proposal to add a high-school baseball program, telling trustees the sport is in its third season statewide and that roughly 30 students had expressed interest. The staff member said the Montana High School Association designates baseball an "emerging sport," which allows a three-year self-funded startup window and some flexibility for fundraising.
"Right now with 30, we'd probably end up around that $30,000 mark," the athletics staff member said when describing rough estimates for uniforms, maintenance and initial equipment. They described potential partnerships with local Little League and Legion teams and said MHSA told them a shorter-than-ideal field (reported at 285 feet) would be allowed for regular-season play but would preclude hosting tournaments.
Trustees asked specific questions about scheduling conflicts with Legion and Babe-Ruth teams, whether athletes would be pulled from other sports such as track, and where practice fields should be located. The staff member described poor condition of current practice fields (hard ground, rocks, weeds) and said options under study include hydroseeding, digging a new well to support irrigation (estimated at $3,000–$4,000), and collaborating with community programs for cost sharing.
Why it matters: adding a sport affects Title IX proportionality, program budgets and facility usage. Board members noted Ridgeway-era limitations on how fundraising may be allocated across programs and emphasized that fundraising raised for a specific sport may need to be managed to remain compliant with district policy and legal guidance.
Next steps: the staff member said they will gather more precise costs and a spring recommendation for the board; trustees did not take a formal vote on adding the sport at this meeting.
