Despite a growing enrollment that is now pushing 800, the only opportunity for Groton-Dunstable (Mass.) Regional High School students to play football has been to join the team at nearby Ayer High School through a co-op arrangement. For GDRHS Athletic Director Dan Twomey, that situation was simply unacceptable.

Last year, Twomey asked his community to fund a new football program at GDRHS, but voters turned down a $1.2 million budget override at the polls. So, this winter, he turned to plan B, asking the Groton-Dunstable School Committee to approve a self-funded football team. By a 5-2 margin, the committee gave Twomey the go-ahead, although members expressed some reservations over how funds would be handled and whether large donors would expect special treatment for their children.

“This type of thing has been done here before to lesser extents,” says Twomey. “When the boys’ and girls’ lacrosse programs were started, a lot of outside donations were needed to make that happen. When we got ice hockey going 10 years ago, the cost was borne by the kids themselves and donations. So why not start football through fundraising?”

The challenge now is to come up with the $60,000 needed to get the program started. Like many schools in Massachusetts, Groton-Dunstable has implemented user fees for its student-athletes, who pay $250 per sport season. With a projected turnout of 55 students (45 varsity and j.v. football players and 10 cheerleaders), Twomey is counting on nearly $14,000 in participation fees. And the school’s athletic booster club has earmarked $10,000 for the team in its first season.

That leaves about $36,000, and a fundraising group has been formed to generate the money needed. Twomey says the group is considering some typical fundraising events, such as a golf tournament and road race. Another possibility is a personalized letter writing campaign to Groton-Dunstable alumni.

“I’ve also had two pledges from outside individuals saying they want to give a significant amount of money to get the program off the ground,” Twomey says. “I’m not that concerned about the money piece. I think a large part of this community wants football here and has for a long time. I think they’re going to do whatever it takes.”

Twomey eventually would like to see the football program move under the school budget umbrella. “After three years, we will have covered all the startup costs, and we’ll have a firm handle on the number of students involved and what our gate receipts bring in,” he says. “At that point, we’d like to add it to the school budget at a cost of about $15,000 a year. We estimate actual costs to be about $40,000 a year, but we will have $15,000 in user fees and another $10,000 in gate revenues, which leaves only $15,000 to be covered by the school budget.”

To answer the first of the school committee’s concerns, Twomey will watch over fundraising efforts, and a revolving account has been established into which all revenue will be deposited. “I’ll be as involved in this fundraising as I have been with our athletic booster club,” he says. “I meet with them regularly, make sure the school district’s standards and policies on fundraising are met, and approve all purchases and donations.”

To address the second concern, Twomey says the squad will not be a club team, and parental pressure will be handled the same way it is for the school’s other 24 teams. Coaches will have the final say on playing time and team policies.

Twomey’s only hesitation with the plan is whether he may be setting a dangerous precedent. “I have some concern that there might be a group of people interested in adding some other sport we don’t currently have by raising their own funds,” he says. “Am I opening a can of worms by getting football added this way? We’ll see. But it comes down to the fact that adding football is the right thing to do for this school.”