GLADSTONE---There have been several attempts over the years to have a high school varsity baseball program established in Gladstone.
Those attempts have failed each time, but a new attempt seems to have more steam behind it as a number of people within the baseball community are planning to ask the Gladstone School Board to allow for a new Gladstone Braves baseball program.
A meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 25th, at the Gladstone American Legion Hall, where all kids interested in high school baseball are being asked to show up. Also being asked to come to the meeting: parents and others in the community who are willing to help to make a potential Braves Baseball team become a reality.
Gladstone High School Athletic Director Matt Houle has expressed support in the past for Braves baseball, but he says that there are several obstacles in the way.
One is the school district's financial situation, where every dollar is being squeezed to keep teachers in the classrooms, academic programs intact, and buildings from falling apart.
The people involved with the Gladstone Indians American Legion baseball program are supporting this move for Braves baseball, and are willing to set up a group to raise the money necessary to have a varsity team.
Just like they do in Escanaba, Norway, and Marquette.
But the second obstacle is this: it is the Gladstone School District's policy to not have any self-funded sports programs. If the district can't afford to offer a sports program, just like offering a computer lab or a math class, then the district won't have it.
And Houle says that the third obstacle is the federal Title IX ruling, which requires equal opportunity for both boys and girls across a district's entire sports program.
Houle says that adding boys baseball may be a problem in keeping that balance within the Gladstone sports offerings. But there are some within the baseball community who believe there are ways to work around the Title IX issue, as is what happened in Escanaba a decade ago when its baseball program was formed. They also note that Gladstone has a softball program for the girls but no baseball program for the boys.
Some are also concerned about what a varsity baseball program would do to the other spring sports offered at Gladstone High School, given the era of declining enrollment.
Would the Braves track, tennis, and golf teams suffer in numbers if some boys were to fill a baseball roster of, say, 16 players?
Right now, kids can play golf, tennis, or track for the Braves, and also play American Legion Baseball for the Indians.
But supporters of a potential Gladstone Braves baseball program say that some kids would rather play baseball full-time to earn their varsity letter. And those supporters plan to submit letters to Superintendent Jay Kulbertis and members of the Gladstone School Board to show that there is an interest in the community for such a program.
They point out that Gladstone has lost several students to nearby Escanaba in recent years under Schools of Choice, and the $7,100 of state aid for each of those kids....plus the $7,100 of any of those kids' sibblings...have left the Gladstone School District's coffers for Escanaba.
The group, led by Gladstone Indians General Manager Mike O'Neal, says that approving baseball could bring money in to the district as students (and their sibblings) may choose Gladstone over other districts because of the ability to play baseball.
The baseball meeting is next Wednesday, April 25, at the Gladstone Legion Hall at 7 p.m. The next meeting of the Gladstone School Board is May 21st at Cameron School.
