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ILLINOIS WATER POLO
2005 SEASON
District 211 Referendum Could Hurt The Sport of Water Polo In Illinois
by Aaron Brown
As taxpayers within School District 211 prepare to vote on an Education Fund Referendum on April 5, many water polo players and coaches from teams within the district anxiously await the results that could determine the future of the sport at their respective schools.
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Basically, the school district is asking for a tax increase to help fund several programs, pay teacher salaries, and cover anything else associated with the operation of a school district. If the referendum passes, the school will be able to continue moving towards its' objectives; however, if the vote goes against an increase in taxes, District 211 has already said that they will be cutting sports teams by more than one half.
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From the water polo perspective, this means that Conant, Fremd, Hoffman Estates, and Palatine, the four District 211 schools with both boys' and girls' water polo teams, will likely need to eliminate their JV teams and one coaching position. While the schools would likely be able to maintain a Varsity-level team, they would be forced to restrict their teams to a small number of players and would be relatively unable to recruit younger players who have never been exposed to the sport. Without a JV team, each school would be facing the strong possibility that the numbers at the Varsity level would continue to decrease over the next few years. While the initial move may not be to cut Varsity teams, low participation numbers have long been a key factor in deciding which sports to cut at the high school level, and water polo at any of these four schools could be faced with that problem in the next few years if the referendum does not pass.
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Why is this important for the sport of water polo in Illinois? Even for players and teams not associated with District 211, there would still be a lingering effect; the IHSA has sanctioned the sport on the basis that it will continue to grow and that a certain number of teams will participate. If a handful of teams from District 211 are unable to field teams in the next few years, the growth of water polo would not be sustained and the IHSA would have to look deeply at the shrinking number of teams instead of the consistent growth the sport has shown over the past few years.
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For now, everyone within District 211 must wait for the April 5th vote to determine their fate. And while there are many other important "non-athletic" repercussions that could result from the success or failure of the referendum, the fate of water polo for the four District 211 teams and the sport in general in Illinois could hang in the balance.
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For more information on District 211's Education Fund Referendum, check the District 211 web site.
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For an athlete's perspective on the subject, check out Erin Bickus' article District 211 Referendum Could Hurt Water Polo.
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