Drop athletics? We'll drop school!
By Joe Rodriguez, Mercury News
Posted: 12/12/2008
At soccer practice Friday afternoon at Oak Grove High School in southeast San Jose, Alejandro Duarte raced toward the goal. He met the perfectly placed pass on the run and blasted it with his right foot under the shoulder of the goalie, Julio Arroyo. Duarte raised his fist and jumped up in joy. Arroyo took it like a pro, not blaming his defense.
"I think I was out of place," said the second string goalie.
For most of the afternoon, the Eagles soccer team practiced as teen athletes usually do, trying mightily hard one moment, goofing off the next, and mostly ignoring the sword raised over their heads.
This team, like 39 others in the East Side Union High School District that compete in 23 different sports, could be wiped out a few months from now. In a draconian proposal, the superintendent this week suggested eliminating all interscholastic sports to save classrooms from even deeper cuts.
"They shouldn't," Arroyo, 17, said during a break. "Personally, I'm still in school because of soccer. I'm happy to be here. My dad is happy I'm here. And my grades are better than ever because I'm in soccer."
Two nights before, hundreds of outraged students, parents, coaches and boosters let Superintendent Bob Nunez have it at a boisterous, contentious district meeting. But at the end, the board of trustees adopted his plan, at least until deadlocked legislators in Sacramento adopt a spending plan for schools and other state services.
At Oak Grove, sports are a big deal. The boys' football and basketball teams regularly reach their league playoffs. The sprawling, 44-acre campus boasts a new, synthetic football field, a sparkling baseball diamond, two softball fields, two swimming pools (one for diving), two gyms and numerous courts for tennis and beach volleyball.
The school also requires student athletes to maintain a 2.0 grade point average, or "C."
Sophomore Oscar Castro, 15, said his GPA was 1.6 when he first tried out for the team. Now it's up to 2.1.
"I don't know what would happen to my grades if they get rid of sports," he said. "I would probably keep them up just to graduate. But it was soccer that made me pick them up. They need to know that."
Duarte, a 17-year-old senior striker, warned that eliminating sports would drive student-athletes like him to other schools.
"I'd probably transfer out of the district," he said. After three years, he's accumulated a C-plus average and hopes to play soccer in college, possibly on a sports scholarship at San Jose State University. "For the players, this team offers friendship, it becomes a family and it keeps some of the guys in school."
Arroyo said he grew up around street gangs.
Economic crisis
* Full coverage of the economic crisis, plus databases showing bank and credit union rankings
"Who knows where I'd be without soccer?" he said. "I could be doing drugs, bad things on the streets."
Instead, he has a 2.8 grade point average, the highest he's ever earned in school.
"For a lot of these kids, soccer is an escape. They come out here, make friends, compete and release stress. All this helps them in the classroom," said soccer coach Eric Seward.
Ed Buller, the school's athletic director, said the district's sports community isn't taking Nunez's threat lightly. He and other athletic directors have already asked the Bay Area's professional sports teams to help save their teams.
"We might not be the only ones," Buller said. "Before this is over, a lot of other districts could be asking them."
Meanwhile in Oak Grove's main gym, the boys basketball team was preparing for a game that evening.
Senior point guard Allan Chapman comes from a line of Oak Grove champions. His brother and cousin were All-Americans at the school. Chapman is also a cornerback on Oak Grove's football team and he's entertaining scholarship offers from San Diego and Sacramento state universities.
"I'd have gone to a Catholic school if they didn't have sports here," Chapman said. He had heard the talk among school administrators that sports could be saved by fundraising if needed.
"You'd have to do a lot of car washes, a lot of bake sales," he said.
By Joe Rodriguez, Mercury News
Posted: 12/12/2008
At soccer practice Friday afternoon at Oak Grove High School in southeast San Jose, Alejandro Duarte raced toward the goal. He met the perfectly placed pass on the run and blasted it with his right foot under the shoulder of the goalie, Julio Arroyo. Duarte raised his fist and jumped up in joy. Arroyo took it like a pro, not blaming his defense.
"I think I was out of place," said the second string goalie.
For most of the afternoon, the Eagles soccer team practiced as teen athletes usually do, trying mightily hard one moment, goofing off the next, and mostly ignoring the sword raised over their heads.
This team, like 39 others in the East Side Union High School District that compete in 23 different sports, could be wiped out a few months from now. In a draconian proposal, the superintendent this week suggested eliminating all interscholastic sports to save classrooms from even deeper cuts.
"They shouldn't," Arroyo, 17, said during a break. "Personally, I'm still in school because of soccer. I'm happy to be here. My dad is happy I'm here. And my grades are better than ever because I'm in soccer."
Two nights before, hundreds of outraged students, parents, coaches and boosters let Superintendent Bob Nunez have it at a boisterous, contentious district meeting. But at the end, the board of trustees adopted his plan, at least until deadlocked legislators in Sacramento adopt a spending plan for schools and other state services.
At Oak Grove, sports are a big deal. The boys' football and basketball teams regularly reach their league playoffs. The sprawling, 44-acre campus boasts a new, synthetic football field, a sparkling baseball diamond, two softball fields, two swimming pools (one for diving), two gyms and numerous courts for tennis and beach volleyball.
The school also requires student athletes to maintain a 2.0 grade point average, or "C."
Sophomore Oscar Castro, 15, said his GPA was 1.6 when he first tried out for the team. Now it's up to 2.1.
"I don't know what would happen to my grades if they get rid of sports," he said. "I would probably keep them up just to graduate. But it was soccer that made me pick them up. They need to know that."
Duarte, a 17-year-old senior striker, warned that eliminating sports would drive student-athletes like him to other schools.
"I'd probably transfer out of the district," he said. After three years, he's accumulated a C-plus average and hopes to play soccer in college, possibly on a sports scholarship at San Jose State University. "For the players, this team offers friendship, it becomes a family and it keeps some of the guys in school."
Arroyo said he grew up around street gangs.
Economic crisis
* Full coverage of the economic crisis, plus databases showing bank and credit union rankings
"Who knows where I'd be without soccer?" he said. "I could be doing drugs, bad things on the streets."
Instead, he has a 2.8 grade point average, the highest he's ever earned in school.
"For a lot of these kids, soccer is an escape. They come out here, make friends, compete and release stress. All this helps them in the classroom," said soccer coach Eric Seward.
Ed Buller, the school's athletic director, said the district's sports community isn't taking Nunez's threat lightly. He and other athletic directors have already asked the Bay Area's professional sports teams to help save their teams.
"We might not be the only ones," Buller said. "Before this is over, a lot of other districts could be asking them."
Meanwhile in Oak Grove's main gym, the boys basketball team was preparing for a game that evening.
Senior point guard Allan Chapman comes from a line of Oak Grove champions. His brother and cousin were All-Americans at the school. Chapman is also a cornerback on Oak Grove's football team and he's entertaining scholarship offers from San Diego and Sacramento state universities.
"I'd have gone to a Catholic school if they didn't have sports here," Chapman said. He had heard the talk among school administrators that sports could be saved by fundraising if needed.
"You'd have to do a lot of car washes, a lot of bake sales," he said.