1. Funding Equality in Interscholastic Athletics Aaron Willoughby, Steve Chen, Shannon Callihan, & Nathan Kizer, Morehead State University 2014 AAHPERD Annual Convention, St. Louis, Missouri April 4, 2014 Research Symposium Poster Session Interscholastic sport programs throughout the country had been severely impacted by tough economic crises in last few years. Without adequate funding and proper funding distribution based on gender equality, the opportunity and support for female athletic participation will be likely decreased. To ensure operational successful of interscholastic athletic programs, this study examined the perceptions of athletic directors and coaches on two key aspects: (a) identifying effective methods for generating athletic funds, and (b) examining the administrators’ thoughts on funding female sports under the essence of Title IX compliance The Needs for the Study: (1) (1) Fundraising and financial related topics at the interscholastic level are rare to find (2) (2) Gender equity concern at the interscholastic level is also less discussed and enforced Direct sales: food & beverage, apparels, and other tangible products Indirect sales: Advertisement and sponsorships: Other services and events: Golf tournaments/scrambles ($10,000 or more), car wash, and bingo, etc. Participants: Interscholastic athletic directors and sport coaches from Eastern KY region (n = 20) Instrument: Self-created survey: 5 open ended questions, 10 five-point Likert scale items, and reviewed by a panel of sport management faculty. Themes: (1) effective fundraising methods, and (2) perception on female sports and equity concerns on budget (based on. (Kiely, 2005; Newell, 2002: Pierce & Bussell, 2011) Procedure: Random sampling from the KHSAA directory list From mid-March to Mid-April 2013 Targeted goal: 33% rate of return Table 1. Participants’ perception on funding issues related to gender equity (1: strongly agree and 5: strongly disagree) (a) In general, the participants adopted both direct sales (food, apparel, and tangible product items) and indirect sales (advertising spaces, conducting camps, and offering services) to generate revenues for their athletic programs. (b) Athletic teams also engaged in many different types of charity events to solicit donations. (c) Over 90% of participants believed that female students should receive necessary support and opportunity to accommodate their participatory need. (d) Most identified fundraising methods: *Trash pick-up / adopt a highway (least profitable), bingo, concession stands, t-shirt sales, hoodie sales, Donation, sponsors *Most effective: Golf scrambles and candy bar sales *Future Plan: Hosting camps and many more Introduction Review of Literature Methodology Results Conclusions, Suggestions and Recommendations Today’s economic situation has severely impacted Interscholastic Athletics ▫ 3% of school budget on Athletics and PE ▫ Pay for play issues: too expensive and mainly for football and basketball ($100~$250 per sport) ▫ Females: 57% of student body population got 41% of budget; many conferences fielded more women’s teams (at the college level) Issues concerning gender equity (a) Title IX three-prong test: accommodations of interests and abilities, financial assistance, and continuous improvement on numbers of female sports (b) Challenges: Schools are finding a way to weaken the Title IX impact; College sport council is welcoming viable alternative to the gender quota (c) Discrimination in many program areas: schedule, facility, and finance (d) Monitoring process: Online survey by the Department of Education and audits of KHSAA (every 5 years) (Kiely, 2005, Lopiano, 2014) Financial support and Revenues (a) Why is fundraising necessary? *Manages public perception of the athletic program; *School district budgetary allocations for athletics are inadequate; *New technology within sport equipment, facilities, etc. that is needed by programs; and *Pressure to do more wins with less (a) 3-key methods for financial support: Fundraising (87%), sponsorship (57%), and participation fee (37%) (b) Popular methods for raising Direct donations: $1000-$5000 (Hall & Gibson, 2008); $20,000-$30,000 (Newell, 2002 at college level) ItemMS.D. Female athletes should be permitted to play with male athletes 2.751.24 Female sports should receive the same amount of funds as male sports 1.50.63 Male sports generate more revenue for our school than females’ 1.751.13 Revenue should stay with that “specific” team that raise the fund 3.381.09 Coaching staff should be entirely responsible for team fundraising 4.06.93 All teams should share their revenue from fundraising equally 3.561.09 Revenue sharing ideas have proven to be critical 2.63.96 Fundraising should take place year round (including the off season) 2.691.14 Sponsorship money equally go to both gender programs 2.311.08 Sponsors can determine where their money go 2.331.35 (1) Findings are consistent with the information found in past literatures regarding effective and most identified fundraising methods: Participants adopted both direct and indirect sales/services for athletic program funds (i.e., food and apparel sales, golf scramble and sponsorship sales, etc.) (2) Charity events are recommended as great funding opportunities (3) Gender equality is emphasized by the sample group: 90% of participants seemed to agree that female students should receive necessary financial support and opportunities; however interesting controversies do occur. *Q2 (females received same amount of funding: 1.50) vs. Q9 (sponsorship money equally go to both genders: 2.31) * Q4 (Revenue stays with a “specific” team: 3.38) vs. Q6 (Teams should share their funded revenues equally: 3.56) (4) Challenges – emphasis on social obligation to the Title IX compliance and potential penalty for failing to comply (5) Future direction? *Expanding the survey sample size (reaching to attendees at the Kentucky High School Teacher Conference) *Mandatory annual gender equity progress report(??)