TREASURE COAST — When Port St. Lucie High School pitcher Kyle Hurley steps on the mound next year, his baseball team might be limited to 20 regular season games — five fewer than now.

The Florida High School Athletic Association has proposed chopping the maximum number of contests by 20 percent for all varsity sports except football; and by 40 percent for all junior varsity sports including football. A board vote is expected in April.

The typical sports regular season would go from 25 varsity games to 20; and 25 junior varsity games to 15.

“That’s five games you don’t get back,” said Hurley, a junior. “You get four years and you lose five games a year. That’s 20 games. That’s a full season you’re missing.”

Some officials and student-athletes jeered the proposal, while others said the loss of games was at least a consideration throughout the Treasure Coast as a way to save programs and manage an uncertain budget complicated by the state’s economic struggles.

“I would say I’m neutral,” Martin County High School athletic director Greg Hendricks said. “As an athletic director, I want my kids to play as many contests as they can play. I want them to be exposed as much as they can be exposed. However, reality is the dollars aren’t available to do that. I think it’s fair.”

Jensen Beach High School baseball coach Todd Belowch said he would rather see this measure taken than the elimination of junior varsity teams.

“As unfortunate as it is, everybody’s in a budget situation,” Belowch said.

While Martin County schools have no plans of their own to limit games next year, St. Lucie County lowered the number of games allowed for this school year to 22 in most cases. By doing so, county public high schools saved about $15,000 a piece this year, county athletic director Jay Stewart said.

Sebastian River High School in Indian River County proposed knocking the number to 20 for next season to save coaching jobs and programs, its athletic director Michael Stutzke said. The school could save between $20,000 and $22,000, he said.

The disparity between schools’ economic capabilities is one reason the FHSAA is making the proposal.

Since several schools are planning cuts, the potential existed for neighboring counties to offer differing amounts of games, which could create unequal opportunities.

“The FHSAA recognizes that there are some constraints state-wide in pockets,” Stewart said. “You may have pockets of wealth. You may have pockets of despair, but I think the FHSAA is doing this in an attempt to keep a level playing field across all sectors of our state.”

Port St. Lucie sophomore shortstop Cory Reid said he would be upset if he could not play as many games as his rivals.

“If we were the one that lost the games, it would definitely seem unfair,” Reid.

But Martin County basketball coach Andre McIntyre said it should be up to individual school districts to determine the opportunities afforded to their athletes. Extra games often allow players to get noticed by college programs, McIntyre said. School districts could raise money to give students more games.

“I think it’s just hurting our athletes,” he said.

While coaches and administrators could be around to see the number of games increase in future years, student athletes are limited by eligibility, Reid said.

“Playing sports is my life,” Reid said. “I think it’s something special. I want to play as many games as I can.”

Compared to some states, Florida plays a high number of athletic events. Ohio for example, limits teams to 14 regular season basketball games and 17 regular season baseball games.

The proposal does not affect off-season club programs that are not affiliated with schools.

By Eric Pfahler, TCPalm.com

Tags: baseball, budget, college, contest, FHSAA, Florida, Florida High School Athletic Association, football, jobs, kids, money, pitcher, raise, raises, students, vote

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 9:32 am and is filed under Economy, Jensen Beach, Martin County, Port St. Lucie, Schools, Sebastian, St. Lucie County, State. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.