School is out — of funds

Many Minneapolis high school athletes practice and play at inadequate facilities, and future budgets don’t provide for any quick fixes.

Dean Spiros, Star Tribune

Minneapolis South senior defensive end Zeke Shepherd plays on a football field with no lights, no electricity, no rest rooms, no ticket booth, no concession stand and no press box. He is not without shame.

“We went up to Cambridge [for the first game of the season] and the paper there pointed out we had never seen concession stands and things like that,” Shepherd said. “We have seen them — just not on our field.”

For the most part, Shepherd said, you learn to do without. But when singled out by others for lacking even standard amenities, you are drawn to re-evaluation.

“I didn’t realize how embarrassing it is,” Shepherd said.

Embarrassment, resentment, anger and resignation are among the emotions often packaged with the equipment handed out to athletes at Minneapolis public high schools. Those feelings fight for supremacy against the pride, commitment and determination that allows the athletes and administrators to rise above the failings.

The lack of quality facilities also can have an impact on a student’s decision to join a team or attend a certain school. In some cases, safety is an issue.

John Washington is in his 10th year as athletic director for Minneapolis’ seven public high schools. His experiences date back over 40 years to his days as a basketball player at North, continuing on as a coach and athletic director at Henry. The best moments of his job are spent watching young athletes perform. Too much of his time is spent saying no to coaches and ADs trying to give those athletes the type of experience they deserve.

Talk of the outdated, dilapidated, sometimes nonexistent athletic facilities of the Minneapolis public schools has long stopped qualifying as breaking news. But with each new freshman class come new sets of disbelieving eyes being introduced to the harsh reality.

“I’ve been working on [trying to improve] facilities for 10 years, which is how long I have been here,” South athletic director Mark Sanders said. “Every year we are asked to put together a needs list. Thus far, none of those needs have been met.”

Washington said enough money is allocated to the schools to keep equipment functional and the programs running each year, but there is no money for upgrading facilities. Booster clubs and fundraising events raise some revenue, but not enough to pay for “big-ticket items.”We realize Minneapolis is hurting for dollars,” Washington said, “but there has to be a way we can generate the monies necessary to rebuild the facilities.”

Taking a look around

Each of the seven schools has its own problem areas, and a recent tour of three schools offered some examples.

The biggest concerns of Edison athletic director Brandon Phillips involve the football/soccer field. The bleachers, which typically are on the outside of the track that rings the field, are on the inside of the track at Edison because surrounding buildings limit available space. Not only does the setup render the stands useless for track meets, the bleachers are dangerously close to the field.

To make matters worse, the ground along the sidelines drops off significantly toward field drains. Athletes — still inbounds — are forced to slow down to prevent slamming into the surrounding chain link fence.

“We have to put mats down [over the low areas] to prevent the kids from getting hurt,” Phillips said.

Henry athletic director Dave Wicker proudly shows off his school’s gym, which was updated with new lighting and a new scoreboard last year. The school also boasts a baseball field; all the other schools play on city fields.

Henry’s needs lie around the football field.

Portable toilets are brought in on gamedays because there are no permanent facilities. The concession stand is so decrepit the school rarely uses it, setting up folding tables instead.

But, by far, the worst conditions are found at South, which has the largest enrollment among the Minneapolis schools.

What serves as the football practice field would best be described as a vacant lot. It is South’s only practice field. The green patches are not grass but straggly tangles of weeds. “It’s not fun to get tackled on,” Shepherd said. “It’s dangerous, too. I find broken pieces of glass once in a while. It would be a lot more reassuring if we had actual grass.”