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Staskunas op-ed about WIAA is misleading

In his Dec. 11 op-ed column, “WIAA must adhere to transparency,” Rep. Tony Staskunas claims the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association should be governed by the state’s public records and open meetings laws.

Unfortunately, the column is misleading.

Contrary to Rep. Staskunas’ main premise, the WIAA is not primarily funded through dues and other tax-supported revenues from member high schools, nor does it receive state or local tax dollars. In fact, only a small fraction—about 6 percent of the WIAA’s annual budget—is derived from voluntary dues and fees paid by both public and private school districts. WIAA membership dues and fees range from $300 a year for small schools to $1,200 for large schools and account for a fraction of 1 percent of a school’s expenditures.

An overwhelming majority of the WIAA’s budget (about 90 percent) is derived from revenues generated by the tournament series and state tournaments the association organizes, sponsors and administers–not from taxpayer revenues. The WIAA’s revenue comes from ticket sales, no different than the revenue generated from movie ticket sales or other entertainment dollars spent by the general public.

Although state tournaments often use high school or other public sports venues, those public entities are reimbursed by the WIAA for that use. Of the $7.6 million in revenue generated in 2008-09, $6.5 million was returned to member high schools for hosting WIAA events, travel reimbursement and school administration allocations.

Moreover, schools hosting tournaments benefit from retaining 100 percent of concession sales. WIAA tournaments also boost local economies.

Although the WIAA is a private, voluntary, nonprofit organization, it routinely provides information requested by the public. Its Annual Meeting is open to the public and streamed live on the Internet. The WIAA also publishes the organization’s budget and meeting minutes in its official publication, The Bulletin, and its annual Yearbook, which is available to the public.

The implied presumption that the WIAA is governed by a small group exercising control over a membership of 506 high schools and more than 100 junior highs in the state is not accurate. In actuality, the association is membership-directed. The rules that govern the association are developed by coaches and local school administrators. All WIAA rules are approved by a vote of the entire membership at the Annual Meeting or through the democratic committee process. Furthermore, the playing rules and required sports equipment, mandatory for safety in competitions, are mandated by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

The proposed legislation could seriously jeopardize the tournament opportunities of thousands of student-athletes participating in interscholastic athletics statewide and affect many other groups and organizations with similar governance and structure as the WIAA.

We look forward to working with Rep. Staskunas and other legislators in providing more information about the WIAA.

Dave Anderson is WIAA executive director, and Roger Foegen is president of the WIAA Board of Control. Anderson can be reached at (715) 344-8580; danderson@wiaawi.org. Foegen can be reached at the same phone number.