Wareham Middle School is getting a new intramural sports program for this coming school year, a replacement of the school's interscholastic program that was cut due to budget constraints.

Administrators, along with parents and the School Committee, had been searching for ways to keep middle school-level sports available for students following this year's budget cuts which eliminated middle school and freshmen sports.  The sports programs totaled $25,000.

Funding was later found within the budget to save freshmen sports, and the School Committee created a subcommittee to examine options for sports at the middle school.

The subcommittee determined that an intramural program could be established, which could be overseen by a current district employee who would receive a stipend for coordinating the program. The School Committee voted unanimously August 11 to approve the creation of the position.

"We're going to try to do the best we can with what we've got," said School Committee member Geoff Swett, adding that the new position would likely be budget-neutral.

Superintendent Dr. Barry Rabinovitch confirmed that the money for the stipend, which will be between $1,000 and $1,600, could likely be found within the current school budget.

Wareham Middle School Principal Howard Gilmore, a member of the subcommittee, spoke in support of the creation of the program.

"The athletic program at the middle school [had] become less-than-desirable," he said.

Budgetary constraints in many districts has led to the cutting of interscholastic sports at the middle-school level, which made it difficult for Wareham teams to participate in games. The intramural program will eliminate that problem while keeping sports available to students.

Some School Committee members expressed concern, however, about the creation of the new position, and they suggested that perhaps the Athletic Director's position should be made full-time to allow that director enough time to coordinate intramural sports.

The Athletic Director currently oversees all sports in addition to teaching high school classes. Rabinovitch said that adding intramural sports to that list would put too much on that person's plate.

It was agreed that the position of Intramural Coordinator should be created for this coming year, but School Committee members vowed to examine the position of Athletic Director next year.