Student Athletes Forced To Pay To Play
Program Costs Passed On To Teens
POSTED: 5:24 pm EDT August 25,
2008
UPDATED: 6:58 pm EDT August 25,
2008
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BOSTON -- Between school supplies and new clothes, back-to-school time can be expensive for many families.NewsCenter 5's Jim Boyd reported that student athletes are facing bigger costs than ever before. Schools struggling with their budgets are making students pay to play.
Pay To Play School Sports?High school athletes at Hamilton Wenham Regional, like student athletes at dozens of schools around the state, pay to play their sports. It costs $282 per student for cross-country, $398 for golf, $409 for girl's soccer, $508 for field hockey and $969 for football."Football started at $1,400 per student, but was reduced through private fundraising and gate receipts to about $969 per student," Athletic Director Don Doucette said.Doucette said last year there were not enough players or revenue to put a hockey team on the ice, so the program was put on hold. But this year they've found a way, by expanding beyond Hamilton Wenham and joining a school that needed additional kids."Now, our hockey program will co-op with Salem High School, and our kids will have a chance to participate and play hockey next year," he said.Doucette said that about 70 percent of the school's 715 students participate in school sports, and for the most part they and their parents cover every bit of the cost."Starting with equipment, transportation, coaches' salaries, you know, officials -- everything, every cost, every dime that would go into putting a program, 100 percent of it is covered in the 100 percent cost for the team," he said.
Pay To Play School Sports?High school athletes at Hamilton Wenham Regional, like student athletes at dozens of schools around the state, pay to play their sports. It costs $282 per student for cross-country, $398 for golf, $409 for girl's soccer, $508 for field hockey and $969 for football."Football started at $1,400 per student, but was reduced through private fundraising and gate receipts to about $969 per student," Athletic Director Don Doucette said.Doucette said last year there were not enough players or revenue to put a hockey team on the ice, so the program was put on hold. But this year they've found a way, by expanding beyond Hamilton Wenham and joining a school that needed additional kids."Now, our hockey program will co-op with Salem High School, and our kids will have a chance to participate and play hockey next year," he said.Doucette said that about 70 percent of the school's 715 students participate in school sports, and for the most part they and their parents cover every bit of the cost."Starting with equipment, transportation, coaches' salaries, you know, officials -- everything, every cost, every dime that would go into putting a program, 100 percent of it is covered in the 100 percent cost for the team," he said. Copyright 2009 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
