PREP NOTES

Budget cuts have hurt many sports, especially ever-costly track and field. But Woodbridge Coach George Varvas came up with--some would say lucked into--a winning solution 10 years ago.

In 1981, Varvas started the Woodbridge Invitational cross-country meet with the help of the Newport-Irvine Rotary Club. The meet started with a few schools, but now has grown to one of the largest in the country. Last Saturday’s field included more than 5,000 runners.

The Rotary Club chipped in $7,000 this year for the meet, covering most of the $8,000 to $9,000 in operating costs (trophies, balloons, computerized results, etc.). Varvas said without the Rotarians’ financial backing, the meet would be in the red about $1,200 because of recent requirements by the City of Irvine to have police on the scene for traffic control.

All of the meet’s proceeds, Varvas said, go toward financing his cross-country and track programs at Woodbridge.

In addition, Varvas said while some meet organizers enlist the services of professional race management companies--they provide timing and finish line management at about $1 per runner--the Rotary Club members do all the legwork, all at no cost.

“They’re really unbelievable,” Varvas said. “They take care of everything for nothing and then they have me over for lunch.”