Should fees be charged for athletic participation?
As time marches forward, it becomes more and more expensive for our youth to participate in sports. When registration day comes along, the parents have to fill out all the necessary paperwork and open their pocketbooks for their child to play sports. Or do they? Sure club teams or private companies charge fees for participants to join or play in their organization. So why is it that our children have to pay to play an extracurricular activity in school? Shouldn’t this be a part of the educational experience?
Schools charge fees so that they make athletics possible for students. Without athletic fees there may not be sports. Athletic fees might provide necessary equipment for the sport teams. Equipment can get very costly. Our football program at Granada High School pays $175 for each Ridell helmet that is purchased for the players. Each year the helmets need to be refurbished. In a school district in Boston, those sports that require less equipment such as cheer, have smaller athletic fees as compared to those that require more equipment, such as ice hockey (Buote, 2004, p. 2). Athletic teams may need balls, nets, pads, uniforms, and let’s not forget the coaching stipends. Then there is the need for transportation to and from the athletic events. Depending on how many teams are in your league, pre-season games or tournaments, and post season play, this expense can also be quite costly. Our school district does not have school buses, so the schools have to reserve chartered buses from a bus company.
Two years ago, the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District found itself in a budget crisis and needed to cut spending. One of the first places in which the fees were cut was to the athletics programs. The district cut $1 million from the athletics budget given to the schools so that it could make up for it elsewhere. After the cuts, the parents of the students were asked to donate $120 to assist with the funding of athletics (“Work Begins,” 2006 p. 2). If the district plans to give the school back some of the money, the fees would still remain at about $80 per athlete to compete in a sport.
The high school that I am contracted out to, increased the athletic fees by a small amount so that the student athletes could have my athletic training services on campus all year long. I am on campus for practices, all home games, and travel with our Varsity Football team to away events. I have a room that is equipped with three treatment tables and a taping table to perform necessary preventative and rehabilitative services to our student athletes. Besides the tables, the hospital provides me with all the supplies necessary to provide care to the athletes and modalities which include ultrasound, electrical stimulation, and a Game Ready unit. When injured, the athlete has immediate care at their finger tips. I also have the resources to refer them into our hospital system without much difficulty. Our Sports Medicine agreement with the school also provides the coaches with CPR classes, Pre-Participation Examinations for our student athletes, and seminars provided for parents, athletes and coaches.
On the other side of the issue, the parents are being asked for money for this, that and the other. Is it right for all athletes parents to pay for services or incur expenses for things that their children may never benefit from? As part of education, should the schools be able to provide athletics for the students with no additional charges? In the Livermore School District, the Board of Trustees was more interested in paying back loans than to bring programs back or reinstate funds to programs where the budgets had been cut (“Work Begins,” 2006 p. 1). We should be able to provide every student with the opportunity to be involved in sport within our schools. It teaches them how to work as a team and teaches them interactive skills that can be used later on in life. Athletics may also be a way to keep our students out of trouble. Some students even find that their grades are reflective of them participating in sports. If they are unable to maintain a grade point average of a 2.0 or better, then they are unable to compete in sports. Every student should have the opportunity to play a sport. At Granada, if the student athlete is unable to provide funding to participate, they are granted a scholarship and it comes out of the general athletics fund.
Being an athletic trainer, I can see both sides of the issue. I believe that each student should be given an opportunity to play sports if they so desire. It would be wonderful if the schools in California were able to provide these extracurricular activities with no charge to the athlete or their parents. As more and more funds are cut from our state budget, education seems to always take a hard hit. Unfortunately, the schools don’t have much choice but to pass some of those losses onto the community. In doing so, some individuals may not be as fortunate as some of my athletes and are unable to play a sport due to lack of funds within their home. Below you will find more problems to think about and comment on with regards to this issue.

How much do your students have to pay? Why is it that some sports have to pay more than other sports at the same school?
Is there a maximum amount per child per year? Or a discount if you have more than one student athlete competing in sports?
Where does the money from athletic fees go?
Do you have an athletic budget?
Does your team have to do fundraising in addition to the students being charged an athletic fee?
Does your school district provide the school with funding for athletics? If so, how do you know how much and how it is distributed?
If a student is unable to pay the fees, are they allowed to participate?
If your school could have an athletic trainer full time for games and practices do you think that it is to the benefit of the athlete and their parents to pay a few more dollars in athletic fees?




References

Buote, B.J. (2004, April 29). School fees for activities may increase. The Boston
Globe. Retrieved September 17, 2006, from
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/mcas/articles/2004/04/29/school_fees_for
_activities_may_increase/?page=2.

Work begun to improve district form. (2006, September 14). The Tri-Valley Herald, Valley p. 1-2.

Welcome back to school everyone! I am currently working on my "issue" and will have it posted in the very near future. Hope this post finds everyone well. Hang in there as I know we are all extremely busy this Fall.