You want luxuries? They aren't cheap
Athletic programs at the University of Southern Mississippi are not exactly a case of the haves and the have-nots. The situation is more likened to the haves and the have-got-a-little-mores.
There is not a sport at the university that claims it is treated as a second-rate citizen in terms of budgeting and attention from administration. But certain sports do have to take more of an initiative to go on certain trips, have certain luxuries and boost attendance.
Football ($4,689,855), men's basketball ($1,395,712) and women's basketball ($855,800) have the three highest budgets in the athletic department. The baseball budget ranks No. 4 at $599,613.
All of those programs have booster clubs to help supplement the budget, but everyone isn't so lucky.
"I think (booster clubs ) are important to all the sports," said Norma Burke, who leads the softball booster club and is the men's basketball secretary. "Yes, women's sports occasionally need a little more because they don't have the money coming in like the bigger sports. So it is very, very vital to them at times."
The Hattiesburg American took a look at four spring sports to examine the different ways in which "lesser" programs at Southern Miss try to raise both money and awareness.
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