High school athletics have not been immune to the economic woes gripping the country.

As spending has declined, so has the amount of money going into Alabama’s public school system. While some athletic programs are weathering the storm better than others, most coaches and booster club members are scrambling to find ways to both cut costs and increase revenue during this time.

Winterboro High School Athletic Director and head football coach Adam Fossett has been handed what he refers to as “a good problem” as the 2009 football season is just a few weeks away. After leading his team to the Class 1A state playoffs in his first season as the head coach in 2008, Fossett has seen increased interest in the program heading into the 2009 season.

“One good thing about what we’re doing here now is our numbers are up,” Fossett said. “We averaged 40 kids at workouts over the summer. That’s just ninth through 12th grade. We haven’t even inserted the seventh and eighth graders yet. We don’t know where we’re going to be numbers wise. That brings good and bad.

“The good is we’ve got numbers, we’ve got boys out participating, we’ve got them doing something that’s worthwhile, something that’s good for them. The bad is equipment issues, making sure we have enough equipment and that every kid is covered, every kid has a helmet, every kid has pads.”

While fundraising is something every athletic team does, Fossett said it’s not easy when there are several schools all asking for donations from the same cities and businesses.

“Being in the location that we are in, we have to pull from Childersburg and Talladega and Sylacauga,” he said. “It’s hard and it’s hard on the businesses because they’re spread out. Sylacauga’s got Sylacauga High and Comer. Childersburg’s got Childersburg and Fayetteville. Talladega’s got Talladega and TC Central and I don’t know if Talladega College pulls anything on them. It’s done an overhaul on everything.”

Winterboro and several other schools in East Central Alabama sell discount cards, cards that usually cost between $10 and $20 and feature discounts from area restaurants and businesses. Those are just one of the fundraisers athletic teams have. Car washes, split the pot tickets and selling chicken halves or boston butts are just a few of the things teams do to keep the athletic budget in the black.

“It seems like it’s a constant battle to stay ahead in the things we do,” Fossett said. “The average fan doesn’t know in just a Friday night game. The cost of officials, the cost of game balls, the cost of pregame meals, all those things combined. For all the schools, just because you’re a bigger school doesn’t mean it’s easier. If you’re Childersburg and you’re dressing out 60 players, that’s 60 meals you’ve got to buy.”

Football affects other sports

While it may take more money to fund a football program, Fossett was quick to point out just how much the other sports and extracurricular activities depend on the money made from football.

“There are schools in other states that have cut programs because things are so tight,” he said. “What a lot of people don’t understand is football’s a money sport. You’re baseball team and softball team is going to get cut before your football team will. It’s a revenue sport. That sounds pretty vicious I guess, but the truth is the truth.

“Our football team affects the band. The band has a concession stand. If we don’t have a good team nobody’s going to come watch, and we’re not going to make gate money and the band isn’t going to make any money off of drinks and nachos and whatever else.”

Playing twice

Private schools around the state are taking a hit as well. Several schools in the Alabama Independent School Association have closed because of lack of funding and a decrease in enrollment. Football coaches at schools that are still operational have scheduled home and home games with a team to fill out the schedule and keep travel expenses down by playing schools located nearby.

Cutting back

The Florida High School Athletic Association’s board of directors decided to help its member schools by making cuts in the number of games each team would play in every sport for the next two years. The Associated Press reported in April that the FHSAA voted 9-6 to cut the number of games varsity teams played by 20 percent while other teams (junior varsity, B-teams, etc.) will see their schedules cut by 40 percent. Those cuts did not apply to football teams in the state.

“We tried to bring a uniform and systematic approach to the problem,” executive director Dr. Roger Dearing said in a statement to the Associated Press. “We are hopeful this will ensure the future of all sports at all levels of competition. It will not affect all schools in all ways, but it will help a vast majority of those schools facing the elimination of certain sports.”