Games just for the young
It’s scholastic-age athletes only at the Empire State GamesBy LOU REUTER, Enterprise Senior Sports Writer
LAKE PLACID - Tough times call for tough measures.
The Empire State Games have taken a big hit after the $3 million they receive annually in state funding was axed from New York's proposed budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year.
Due to pulled funding, the size of the Empire State Games will be sharply reduced and competitors will have to pay to participate. Beginning this summer, the open and masters divisions have been eliminated from the Empire State Games, leaving the event for scholastic-age athletes only.
The 2009 Winter Empire State Games scheduled for next month in Lake Placid have mainly been unaffected because money to host the three days of competitions was included in last year's budget. The major change in next month's Winter Games will be the elimination of the sliding sports at Mount Van Hoevenberg, but that decision was made because the 2009 Bobsled and Skeleton World Championships are being hosted at the venue at the same time.
The Empire State Games are run by the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. According to spokesperson Eileen Larabee, $227 million has been earmarked in the proposed budget to run the agency, with $139 million of that amount coming from the general fund. Larabee said 83 percent of the money received by the agency is used to run New York's 178 state parks and 65 historic sites.
Larabee said about 6,000 athletes were in the 2008 summer games, and another 1,400 athletes gather in Lake Placid each year for the Winter competitions. More than half of the athletes who enter the summer games annually are open and masters competitors, and since plans have been made to scrap those divisions, the number of participants will be drastically scaled back. Although Larabee didn't immediately have the breakdown on the number of scholastic and open division athletes participating in Lake Placid each year, she said it followed a similar pattern to the summer games.
"We are going back to the core mission of the games," Larabee said. "First and foremost, we want to give the scholastic kids an opportunity to compete. They are the ones who are training. They are the ones who will have opportunity to shine. They are the athletes who are looking for college scholarships."
One longtime competitor in the Empire State Games masters division swimming is Saranac Lake's Tom Kilroy, who first entered the games in 1988 and has won more than 50 medals during that time.
"I understand what is going on with the economy," Kilroy said. "Everybody is looking around to see where cuts can be made.
"When I first heard the masters swimming was going to be cut, I thought 'Gee, I'm going to have to re-psych myself to train.' But there is a movement afoot in Albany among Adirondack masters swimmers to host their own state meet this summer in Colonie. I think it will happen.
"I also think masters and open competitions could return to the Empire State Games," Kilroy added. "Like all the budget cuts, they are all just proposals. This could just be one of those little blips in the road."
Along with the scaled-back games, communities hosting the events could also take a hit financially, and Lake Placid is no exception.
"I know it's a very busy weekend in Lake Placid," Larabee said. "I know the winter games mean a lot to the area."
Lake Placid Mayor Jamie Rogers said regular winter attendance at the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center would most likely increase to help fill the void left by a downsized Winter Empire State Games.
"Lake Placid will take an economic hit, and one way to make up for that is Whiteface Mountain," Rogers said. "Fewer competitors mean that more hotel rooms become available, and getting more skiers at Whiteface Mountain could be an answer. Whiteface actually competes with the games each year."
Starting with this summer's games in the Mid-Hudson Valley Region, scholastic athletes will be charged $285 to compete, an amount that will cover all expenses including food and lodging. At the 2010 Winter Games, athletes will be expected to pay up to $100 in entry fees, which will not cover food or lodging.
Tonawanda resident Louis Reuter (father of this reporter), who has volunteered at the Empire State Games since their inception in 1978 and is now the Western Region director, said New York has always been a leader in the United States in promoting amateur sports, but scaling back the event could tarnish that reputation.
"Based on no money from the state, the Empire State Games will become third or fourth rate," Reuter said, adding that charging entry fees for scholastic age athletes could also be discriminatory. "Poor inner-city kids, poor rural kids, that's a lot of money for them to come up with. A lot of them won't be able to afford to compete."
Larabee said charging entry fees is the only way that the Empire State Games can currently continue amid New York's economic struggles.
"State agencies are making cuts across the board," she said. "We have reached the point where continuing the games means making changes. We'd like to see the return of the open and masters divisions in the future.
"Our aim is to continue the Empire State Games," she added. "We are looking to pursue other funding sources. A solution could be sponsorships, and that's an avenue where we will be working with host communities."
