GoFundMe drive for high school sports: No suit, but the lawyers get paid
Mar. 14—The GoFundMe page created last month on behalf of athletes in Albuquerque Public Schools raised nearly $11,500 for possible litigation against the state.
But there isn't going to be a lawsuit. So what's going to happen to the $11,425 that was raised for this cause?
La Cueva High School volleyball coach Steve Archibeque, who helped to spearhead the effort, said nearly $10,000 of that money will be paid out to the attorneys — Michael Danoff & Associates in Albuquerque — retained to wage legal proceedings against the state. Which they did, Danoff said, in the form of copious research, working on potential legal documents, letters, meetings and phone calls.
After also paying service fees to GoFundMe, about $500, there is approximately $1,300 remaining in the account, Archibeque said Thursday.
Archibeque said he has updated those who donated to the fund. And even though there was never an official legal filing, "things were done on behalf of the activity."
The GoFundMe effort was announced on Feb. 22. Then, APS athletes could not play their sport because the district wasn't in the proper learning model.
On March 3, APS' in-person learning model was formally approved by the Public Education Department. APS has since returned to athletics with full practices. Abbreviated regular seasons in the four fall sports — football, soccer, volleyball and cross country — are set to begin this week, starting Monday with volleyball. Archibeque's La Cueva team begins its search of a third consecutive blue trophy.
When the GoFundMe page was announced, language on the page said monies raised would go toward "litigation and any fees incurred in this process."
Fundraising for the page was stopped "when it appeared we would have a resolution and would not need to resort to further litigation in court," AnnaMarie Garcia, the page organizer, wrote in a posting on the page on Friday.
She further added that the remaining balance would be "distributed equally amongst all 13 Albuquerque area high schools for their athletic departments to use for their schools' programs as needed."
The desire to explore legal proceedings against the state largely had to do with giving APS athletes — particularly those in volleyball and cross country — a timely chance to get qualified for their state events, which they will now be able to accomplish.
Archibeque said he believed just the threat of legal action against the state helped speed along the process and aided local athletes.
"It definitely put pressure on all entities to make the right decision," he said. "I think everyone realized that the students, the athletes, needed to be advocated for, and our attorneys were able to do that."
