Across America, high school athletes are being forced to pay large amounts of money to play for their respective teams. The cost of paying for sports in the U.S. has caused some dissension among people in sports. The question that these people debate is whether or not athletes should have to pay to play sports.

Matthew Taylor: If you play sports, you will know that there is almost a one hundred percent chance that you have to pay a set amount of money to participate. These fees can add up over time and cause athletes to be forced to step away from the sport they love when they can longer afford the financia; hardship. This is a major problem that has spread across the country and should be put to a stop. 

The sport that this problem most greatly affects is soccer. Many of the top academy teams in the U.S. require players to pay well over $3,000 to play for only a season. A player could have all the talent in the world but struggle to pay the fees to play which prevents them from developing at the highest level. This is the sole reason why the United States is so bad at soccer. Players such as Ronaldo and Messi both came from humble beginnings and most likely would have struggled to pay to play with the teams that they needed to play with in order to become the best players in the world. 

High school sports at our school do not cost nearly as much as some club teams, and this allow more kids to play. A low cost gives kids an opportunity to try a sport without having to worry about the finances behind it. This promotes more students to try new sports in high school which causes them to be more well-rounded people. It also can help to make our sports teams better because more students will try out. However, although the costs are low in comparison to others, it is still a requirement that kids should not have to worry about. Let’s keep the money in the wallets and the kids on the teams. 

Owen Milanowski: Pay-to-play sports programs can be beneficial for both schools and athletes. Schools can gain more money to spend on their sports budgets for equipment and coaches. 

One reason why paying to play for school sports can be beneficial for athletes is decreasing budgets for athletic programs. Certain schools around the nation are putting more money into their education programs to meet academic performance standards, and extracurriculars, such as art and athletics programs, can get pared down. Having the families pay part of the cost of the sports programs can help schools around the country have more sports for student-athletes to participate in.

Another reason why pay-to-play programs for school sports can be beneficial is the cost of equipment for certain sports. Some sports are not easy to fully equip every single player. For instance, on the hockey team, every player needs a stick, skates, gloves, mouthguards, and more. For the golf team, you need all kinds of different clubs. I participated in the bowling program this winter, and we had to buy our shoes and jerseys, not to mention the money I personally spent on new balls and a 3-ball bag. The money from the pay-to-play program helped us to purchase some training equipment for working on our form and bowling balls for everyone on the team.

The increased budget from pay-to-play programs can also help in the hiring of new coaches, trainers, athletic directors, and more. You could argue that although our football team was great last year, they might not have made it to the state finals without coach Rodgers’ expertise. From my own experiences with the bowling team’s new coach, Jerry Tarabek, that improved coaching can definitely make a difference. Last year, the varsity bowling team improved from a 1-13 record to a 7-7 record and avoiding a losing season. We also placed fourth in the conference at the conference tournament, and a bowler in Wes Baldwin placed thirty-ninth in the regional singles tournament. Without the knowledge gained from participating in coaches’ practices, we were able to make some noticeable improvements that probably would not have happened without having a knowledgeable coach who was hired with available funds in order to do so. 

In order to run a successful sports program, money has to be collected from somewhere; however, when that money comes back to the programs that it is supporting, it is well worth it in the end.