Athletes perceive shortages in funding

Fall sports in 2019 had an overall budget of $63,650, but spent a total of $65,638.04. Despite being over budget, various sports, specifically those who use the pool, felt as though they weren’t getting enough financial support.

According to Ewald, the athletic department recently put funds toward putting an HVAC system in the pool to attempt to improve air quality for swimmers. The system was close to $750,000.

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The athletic department went over budget — not including the HVAC system — for girls’ swimming in the fall. $4,450 was budgeted while $5,096.58 was spent.

Although the swimming pool has recently received new lane lines and an improved air system, junior Lily Metzler said she feels that there are still more improvements that need to be made.

“I know there’s other sports they have to focus on, but I think if our facilities were better quality there would be more people coming to meets, which would bring in more money for the school.”

Synchro swimmer and junior Maya Lee said she felt her sport’s transportation and practice facility needs weren’t met.

“We didn’t get a bus when we practiced at the middle school for synchro, so we had to drive ourselves,” Lee said. “The pool also hasn’t been renovated in years.”

Forsberg has expressed her concerns for swimmers and the pool. At meets, swimmers are at an immediate disadvantage due to outdated equipment and small pool.

“Most blocks these days have a different starting spot that we don’t have and we can’t practice with it,” Foresberg said. “So we’re at a disadvantage on the start and on relay starts.”

Although Ewald said he is commonly blamed for athletic problems, such as the outdated pool, not everything is in his control.

“I wish (we could have) a six-lane pool,” Ewald said. “With swimming, when the coaches said we need to get new lane lines, we got new lane lines. We found a way to get a whole new touchpad system because ours was not working.”