Shawnee hopes to avoid economic woes

Florida, one of the nation’s high school athletic hotbeds, is considering drastic two-year schedule reductions in virtually every sport except king football.
New York has already shortened its athletic schedules and some California high schools have eliminated coaching stipends. California students and parents will be asked to donate money to defray expenses.
Many other states, battered, bruised and strained by the economic crunch, are desperately seeking ways to stay afloat while retaining quality programs on fewer economic resources.
The Santa Fe, N.M., school system pondered the idea of putting middle school athletics on a club-team format but instead severed the posts of two high school athletic managers.
And Maine, the Pine Tree State, has put an axe to the total number of teams participating in the state playoffs.
Many schools across the country are definitely at the crossroads, with difficult decisions looming.
Shawnee Athletic Director Steve Fluke — at least for the present — must be counting his blessings and crossing every available finger. There have been no earthshaking discussions regarding the economy and its possible negative impact on the SHS athletic programs.
“That could always change,” Fluke said. “The biggest thing that will probably effect us this upcoming school year is gas prices. If gas goes way up this summer, we will probably be talking about it.
“As of June 15, though, we have had no discussions on ways of reducing mileage.”
Football, the high school cash crop, has dealt a good hand to Shawnee. In its present district format, Shawnee is aligned with Class 5A teams from the western part of the state.
Durant and Ardmore are fairly long road trips but four fellow district squads — Harrah, Carl Albert, Noble and Capitol Hill — are little more than a hop, skip and jump from Shawnee. And Guthrie is only a 70-mile jaunt.
Shawnee’s only non-district road game for the coming season is Deer Creek-Edmond. The Wolves will entertain non-district foes Chickasha and Western Heights.
In 2007, Shawnee’s district was primarily composed of schools from the eastern side of the state, making for much more expensive gas tabs.
“Anytime you can limit travel, it helps,” Fluke said. “The Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association dictates whether you go east or west, as far as your district setup goes.
“We’re one of those border schools that could go either east or west every time the district is realigned.
“Anytime we are put in basically the Oklahoma City district, it helps us in two ways — travel costs and at the gate in terms of attendance.”