By Faythe Fowler
As a whole, athletics programs at Casper College receive a budget from various sources to divide and decide what happens with the money. There is an overall budget for each sport that is created by financial services, depending on various factors that affect the budget.
“The college gives us two budgets,” said Ben McArthur, the men’s head soccer coach at CC. “There’s a scholarship budget, which goes towards scholar-shipping players… and then there’s an operations budget, which pays for gear, hotels, food, travel, referees, things like that.”
From that budget, Linda Toohey and Paul Marble collaborate and approve budget items for each sport. They must keep things equitable between men’s and women’s sports but understand that there will be budgeting differences between all sports.
“One team may just have more of an expense than another,” said Toohey. “But we try to keep it as close as we can.”
Brooke Downs, the director of financial services at CC, provided the 2023-2024 academic year budgets for each sport. These budgets include coach salaries.
For example, the rodeo team received $318,000 for the 2023-2024 academic year. Jhett Johnson, the head rodeo coach at CC, said the budget mostly goes towards animal leases and feed, as well as travel and rooms.
Volleyball, however, received $156,000 for the 2023-2024 academic year. This is due to various factors, including the number of coaches and the number of teams.
Volleyball is a smaller team – consisting of only 15 players – and only a women’s team, with two coaches. Rodeo has a women’s team with 11 athletes with one coach, and a men’s team of 30 athletes with two coaches. The sheer size difference in the teams can explain the $162,000 difference between the sports.
Other sports funding is adjusted for team size and their need for types of equipment. According to Downs, all budgets include coaches’ salaries; men’s basketball receives $223,000, women’s basketball receives $228,000, men’s soccer receives $207,000, and women’s soccer receives $223,500. The athletic director receives $342,00 and all athletic trainers receive $104,000.
“Our ratio of men to women on campus is approximately 60% women to 40% men,” said Toohey.
According to Marble and Toohey, budgets depend on how long certain coaches have been at CC and equity between men’s and women’s teams. They evaluate and agree upon a budget that is fair for all sports.
There is also additional fundraising to help support the athletic program. The athletic department as a whole fundraises, as well as individual sports.
“[The] golf outing. That’s our big one,” said Marble. “Each sport does fundraising to help their cause and help the department in various forms.”
Johnson said that the rodeo team hosts a rodeo school over the summer that brings in revenue for their team. The kids get help, as well as the athletes that learn from teaching, according to Johnson.
“We run a soccer camp, and we sell concessions during state basketball,” said McArthur. “Those are our two big fundraisers.”
Money earned from fundraising goes to additional perks, such as additional equipment, gear, or team clothes, said Marble.
The money dedicated towards sports at CC is carefully revised and ensures that each sport has the funds needed to succeed on and off the field.