Troy High School sports range from the least popular, such as golf, softball and synchronized swimming, to the most popular, such as track, cross country and soccer.
With every school sport comes prices for various elements. Troy High School is relatively low on costs compared to Farmington Public Schools, who charge a one-time fee of $350, “meaning if you play one sport, you pay $350. If you play four sports, you still pay $350. It’s a way the district tries to incentivize kids to participate in multiple sports,” says Shane Hynes, Troy High School Athletics Coordinator.
Initial payment is consistent from sport to sport. As stated by Hynes, regardless of sport, “Everybody is subject to a Pay-to-Participate fee. That fee is currently $175.”
Additional costs differ by sport. “For example golf, cheer, skiing, bowling, anything that doesn’t compete here and are [off-site] have additional costs,” Hynes commented. “For cheer, they bring in a tumbling coach once or twice a week. The student athletes and the families do have to pay for that.” Other variables such as gear and equipment can also raise participation costs.
About hockey gear, junior Giovanna Carter stated, “I get new, not used, gear, so it costs about $1500 for the whole gear.”
Freshman Katherine Park speaks about her bowling equipment. “The shoes are $60 and the balls are $100 to $200.” However, the price of the ball significantly lowers if one chooses to rent it out, similar to hockey gear.
For hockey, payment for the rink is also needed. Carter said, “It depends if your coach does it for you or if they donate the time to you, so I paid $500 each month for [the rink].”
When payment is made for a sport, the money scatters to fund different objectives, such as coaches’ salaries, equipment, off-site location, such as bowling lanes or the ice rink, and gear. “The Pay-to-Participate fee helps to offset some cost by the district, so some of that cost will include bussing. Other things like coaching salaries, so that $175 for each student-athlete goes back to the district’s pool of funds,” Hynes said, “The district has multiple buckets of funds for education, enrichments, fine arts, athletics. So that $175 goes back into the pot for athletics for the district which helps offset the cost that the district needs to support school sports.”
Although both Carter and Park state that the money needed may be costly, they also both agree that it is worth it.
“It definitely is worth it to me because I love doing it,” Carter said, “I love going to practice every day and just having fun with my friends and just getting better every time that I go.”
While sports may be associated with a free-spirited mind and a stress relief for many, that can be restricted because of its price. Inflation also seems to be present, as mentioned by Carter. “[The price] used to be less last year. This year it went up $100.”
Beyond high schoolers, social outlets such as sports are important to children in their formative years, when they’re going through social and cognitive development. Social isolation may cause issues such as anxiety and depression, and the extravagant prices of sports can play a role in that. It’s primal that children and highschoolers get the help they need and express their interests with others.
As Hynes said, “In circumstances where a family is unable to cover the cost of the Pay-to-Participate, we’ll always work with them to make sure their son or daughter is able to participate.”
