The Coronado Middle School sports program had more plot twists than a bad Russian novel last year.

In order to help balance the budget of the Coronado Unified School District for 2003-04, the Board of Education voted to eliminate funding for CMS sports. It was one of many cost-cutting moves made due to decreased funding from the state. For a brief period of time, the program was non-existent. To paraphrase the British comedy team Monty Python, it was a ‘former’ program.

From this dismal start 1 year ago, the parent group of Tammy Cusick, Susan Enowitz, Arden Gillberg, Laura McLean and Sue Runyon came forward and asked that the concept of a middle school sports program be revisited. The major element that needed to be addressed, to no one’s surprise, was money. The $30,000 from the school district used to fund sports was gone and allocated elsewhere.

Coronado High School and Coronado Middle School Athletic Director Sandy Ferguson had built the CMS program to include a total of 12 sports. As an educator himself, Ferguson recognized the value of the program. "Our sports program connects kids to the school," said Ferguson, who is also doubles as a history teacher at CHS. "I looked at this effort as the last chance for middle school sports in our city, which many of us consider to be of paramount importance to our kids."

Faced with lemons, several people in our city decided lemonade was a better alternative. Representing the Coronado Unified School District were Superintendent, Dr. Marilyn Wheeler; Asst. Superintendent Dr. Susan Coyle; CMS Principal Nancy Girvin, and Ferguson. ISF Past President Dave Hammel and I represented the Islander Sports Foundation at the organizational meetings.

It was determined that kids and parents alike wanted competition between and among other schools in the county, rather than just an elaborate intramural program. With strong youth soccer, little league baseball and youth football programs already established in Coronado, kids at the 8^th grade level have already been competing against each other for several years. Retaining an expanded level of competition, which had been a hallmark of the CMS program, was retained.

A fee of $80 per child, per sport was thought to be enough to cover costs, without being out of the financial reach of most families. It was also determined that scholarships would be available for students who could not afford to pay the fee. A total of 14 scholarships were granted, a total that was met by 70 private contributions, in addition to donations from the Coronado Women’s Club, and the Coronado Optimist Club. Enrollment figures held strong, with a total of 455 students participating in 12 sports in 2003-04.

Once the season was underway, important roles were filled by CMS Assistant Principal Jay Marquand, ASB Treasurer Kathy Redding and Islander Sports Foundation Treasurer Vic Todaro. The ISF assumed the role of financial agent for the CMS sports program and Todaro graciously devoted many hours to paying bills and keeping the financial records straight.

A number of parents also stepped forward and joined the coaching ranks for a number of sports, which had larger than anticipated enrollments. Boys Basketball had 60 students participate, followed by 50 athletes in boys lacrosse, 49 in boys soccer, 44 in girls soccer and 40 in softball.

The CMS sports effort also had some unintended humor associated with it. At one point over the Christmas break, with the schools closed, a check request for payment to an official sat for a couple of weeks, sending the referee into a whistle tooting tizzy of sorts. The payment was made shortly after the beginning of the year, after several calls were fielded by Kathy Redding for the check. It was simply a matter of not knowing the check request was spending the holiday season in the ISF in basket and one of those details that seem to crop up when least expected. Surely Murphy could write a law to cover that situation.

Recently, the steering committee for CMS sports met and reached the following decisions for the 2004-05 school year:

As the students grow older, the parents ‘graduate’ also. Moving on to the high school level this year are Susan Enowitz and Laura McLean, who are joining the ISF Board of Directors, representing cross country and track respectively. Remaining on the ISF Board representing CMS are Tammy Cusick, Carrie O’Brien and Dan Little.

Many parents contributing many hundreds of hours helped make the CMS sports program successful again this year. At least this bad Russian novel had a happy ending.

If you are interested in coaching one or more of the sports at Coronado Middle School, please contact Dan Little, who will be the primary CMS sports contact this year. His phone number is 424-9223.

Additional information regarding CMS sports can be obtained by visiting the ISF’s website, which is www.IslanderSportsFoundation.com. All of the medical, eligibility, and ethics forms needed to participate in CMS athletics can be printed from that site.

The Islander Sports Foundation is a 501-c-3, non-profit, tax-exempt organization, which was founded in 1994. The group’s mission statement is, "Helping All Students Become Champions Through Sports."

If you would like to make a donation to the CMS Sports program, which helps keep the youth of our city constructively occupied, and allows them to advance physically and emotionally, please make your tax deductible donation to the Islander Sports Foundation and mail it to 234 B Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118. I will see that it is properly credited to the team or level (high school or middle school) that you designate.