REGION 16 — The sidelines may be dotted with advertisements when the fall sports season begins next year at Woodland Regional High School.
The Region 16 Board of Education, which oversees schools in Beacon Falls and Prospect, is considering a proposal to allow athletic booster clubs to sell advertising signs to hang along the sidelines of home games.
Nelson Abarzua, co-president of the Touchdown Club, proposed the idea to the school board at its Nov. 19 meeting.
“To me it’s a great idea to bring in the funds,” Abarzua said.
The Touchdown Club raises money for the Woodland football team. Abarzua said the money goes to buy extra gear for the team that the school district can’t afford. Last year, he said, the club was successful in raising funds and was able to purchase a camera system for the sidelines and cold-weather jackets for the team among other items.
Abarzua said the idea wouldn’t be limited to the football team, but an option for every booster club at the high school. He said selling ads would help ease the burden of the constant fundraising all clubs have to do.
“That would alleviate a lot of the fundraising for each club,” Abarzua said.
Abarzua added money raised with ads sold at football games would also help the band, the dance team and the cheerleading squad.
“The girls do a lot for us,” he said of the dancers and cheerleaders. “We all work very well together, but they get the short end of the stick sometimes.”
Selling ads could also help the school budget, Abarzua said. The extra money can go towards equipment that may have otherwise been paid for through the budget, which would leave more for education initiatives, he said.
Abarzua said signs could potentially sell for between $250 and $500. They will be saved at the end of each season, he said, and it would be cheaper to advertise again since the sign is already made.
Selling ads to hang on fences along fields is a fundraising method used by many youth sports organizations. The idea intrigued the school board.
“There’s lots of questions that we have to talk about, but it’s definitely something the board is willing to consider,” school board Chair Donna Cullen said.
Superintendent of Schools Michael Yamin said it’s a great idea that would support sports programs and be fiscally responsible to the school budget. He said he will organize a meeting with Woodland Athletic Director Brian Fell and representatives of the booster clubs to discuss the proposal. Yamin said he will also look into whether the Naugatuck Valley League has any restrictions on hanging ads at games.
If no issues arise, Yamin said, the proposal could be implemented in the 2015-16 school year.
