Cost of cutbacks too high

A high school without sports teams? Friday Night Lights Out?

It's what Larry David would call a whole bowl of wrong.

"High school is about going to the games and everyone coming together and cheering for your team," says Christina Izzicupo, a track star and soccer player who just finished her junior year at Stoneham High. "I just can't imagine a school without sports. What would kids do after school? There would be so much commotion, people walking around, going on skateboards. It would be dangerous to the community."

Last week, the Stoneham School Committee eliminated the entire athletic program at Stoneham High School. It was in reaction to a budget crisis that spiked when voters said no to a $3 million property tax override June 19. The ballot question was defeated by 237 votes.

Tuesday night, $1.3 million was raised when a $200-per-household trash fee was approved by Stoneham's Board of Selectmen. The board has until July 31 to decide how much of the newfound dough might be used to restore sports at the high school. It's not enough cash to bring everything back, but it's a start.

I don't live in Stoneham. I know they have a very nice library and I know Nancy Kerrigan grew up there. I know it's a popular exit off Route 93 heading north out of Boston.

I also know that I could not live in a town that doesn't offer high school sports. Sure, there are more important things in any town budget -- you've got to have police and fire departments, snow removal, trash pickup, and public schools -- but there's simply got to be money for high school teams.

A high school without teams is a body without heart, without soul. It's also a recipe for disaster. We need our kids applying their bodies and minds in those hours after the last bell rings. We need them learning the lessons of team-above-self, dedication, and commitment.

"Kids need a connection to their school," says Stoneham's outgoing athletic director, Mike Lahiff (he's taken a job with Middlesex League rival Watertown). "Whether it's art, music, drama, or athletics. Kids want to come to school for something other than the classroom. And it gives them an opportunity to represent their community as well."

"It's fun and it helps kids with their confidence," says senior-to-be Ali Simeone, a miler on Stoneham's Division 3 indoor state track champs.

Izzicupo was a cocaptain of that team, which no longer exists. She's already generated interest from some college track programs, and if Stoneham doesn't offer sports next year, she may petition the MIAA for an opportunity to run for a rival Middlesex League School.

What about the hundreds of other kids who want to play at Stoneham? The student population in grades 9-12 is approximately 875, and Lahiff reports that 70 percent of the kids play a sport at some time during high school. A lot of the other kids take great joy just going to the games. Now it's gone.

No Thanksgiving game against Reading. No cheerleaders on the sideline. No Spartan Pride. No blue and white confetti in the stands. No dances after the games.

Bob Powers, coach of the football Spartans, who went 7-4 last season, says, "You hear people at some of these meetings and they're talking about athletic scholarships. That's such a small percentage of our athletes. But I'll give you hundreds of kids that I've had that wouldn't be in college if it wasn't for playing. It made them good citizens. It made them what they are. It taught them discipline. I hear about lazy high school kids and all that. Well, when I had early workouts, I'd have 80 kids here at 5 in the morning."

When I grew up in Groton, a small town in Central Massachusetts, the warm high school gym was the center of our universe on cold Friday nights in January. Little kids worshipped the varsity basketball players and wanted to grow up to play for coach John Fahey. It kept us going when there was often nothing else to do.

High school sports connect kids to their school, and parents to the school community. Want to know what your freshman is up to? Go to his Friday afternoon football game against Walpole. You'll find yourself sitting next to the parent of another freshman boy and you'll learn something about your own child that you didn't know.

You might even bump into his academic adviser. Hanging out at the games connects you with the life your child lives every day.

Football two-a-days start Aug. 20. Plenty of time for the good people of Stoneham to get their act together and do the right thing.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reaached at dshaughnessy@globe.com.