Time to collect those pins at Lincoln Public Schools.
Funds for bowling and girls wrestling, varsity sports sanctioned by the Nebraska School Activities Association, are included in the district's general fund budget proposal for the upcoming school year.
The two sports would come to each of LPS' seven high schools this winter under the preliminary spending blueprint, which was shared with the Lincoln Board of Education on Tuesday.
A final proposal is expected to go before the board in August.
"It's really exciting," said Kathi Wieskamp, who is retiring this year as the district's athletic director. "This is something that has been of interest … it's one more thing we're able to get accomplished for kids. That, for me, is fulfilling."
More than $206,000 is set aside for boys and girls varsity bowling teams at each high school, including $74,000 in extra-standard pay for coaches and $42,000 for transportation.
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About $134,000 is budgeted for girls wrestling, which may include varsity and junior varsity squads depending on participation levels. About $46,000 of that is set aside for an additional assistant wrestling coach who will work as part of a school's entire wrestling staff. An additional $31,500 will go toward transportation.
The district will also transfer $147,000 to the Athletic Department's fund for equipment, supplies, uniforms, facility rentals, NSAA fees and other expenses for the two sports.
If the budgets are approved, the district will also have fee waivers in place for families who qualify for the federal free- and reduced-lunch program to purchase equipment not provided by the district at a lower cost.
The district has already put into place some of the groundwork to bring the two sports on board, Wieskamp said, but "we'll start rolling a little faster" when a final budget is approved. That will include registering with the NSAA and securing schedules.
The NSAA sanctioned bowling in 2020 and girls wrestling a year later, but budget cuts over the past two years prevented LPS from adding the sports despite impassioned pleas from parents and students.
LPS, however, said it hoped to add the sports in the near future and sent out a survey last school year to gauge student interest.
Bowling was for many years a club sport in Nebraska high schools, expanding to about 100 teams before the NSAA sanctioned it. In the second varsity bowling season last winter, about 40 boys and girls teams competed — including from Lincoln Pius X, Seward and Waverly.
Last winter was the first sanctioned season in Nebraska for girls wrestling, one of the nation's fastest-growing sports, and 144 girls participated alongside the boys at the state meet last February.
Alex Rodriguez started wrestling when she was 3 years old. It was just something passed down from her older brother.
But the Lincoln East sophomore was unable to compete against her peers because girls wrestling wasn't offered at her school.
"I see other girls wrestling and I can't wrestle them … which kind of made me sad during my freshman year," she said.
So sitting inside the LPS board room during Tuesday's budget work session and hearing the news was "emotional" for Rodriguez and her father, Tony Rodriguez.
"As a father, I could see her grow and the goals that she's had that she can finally put into place and have a chance to be a state champion," he said.
Glen Riedel, a former club bowling coach at Lincoln Southeast High School, organized a club league for Lincoln high school bowlers last winter. He's pleased to see money added for the sports this time around and would like to see junior varsity squads added if enough students try out.Â
"I think it's great," he said. "It's something overdue."
Board member Kathy Danek was "very instrumental" in getting the sports added, Riedel said, meeting with parents and asking the district to look at the budget feasibility.
"Kathy made a push," he said.
Danek, who chairs the board's finance committee, was pleased to see the sports included in the budget, especially given the vocal support by parents and students at board meetings.
"I think they're all going to be extremely happy that we listened and that we put those sports in," she said.
Tony Rodriguez and his daughter, who spoke before the board earlier this year, embraced in the hallway after Tuesday's meeting. Tears were in his eyes when he thought about his daughter's future.
"It’s just awesome to see that they finally passed it, not only for my daughter but all the other female student athletes that are ready to come out and compete."