Pay To Play: Cuts Costs or Cuts Enthusiasm?

The following is a column that was published in the Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI) regarding schools instituting pay to play programs to cut expenses.

Midland Public Schools are grappling with higher education costs, declining enrollment and a budget deficit for 2008-09. They are now contemplating a pay-to-play fee of $50 per athlete charged for each sport they participate in. Troy Public Schools is facing an $8 million deficit. The school board figures by closing their middle school pools, providing transportation to sporting events (parents would pick students up from these events) and instituting pay-to-play for their athletes, the school district will save $3.73 million during the next fiscal year.

The pay-to-play program is not a new concept. According to Scott Smith, an associate professor of sports management at Central Michigan University, it began in the 1970s and spread quickly in the 1980s and '90s as school fiscal budgets began to tighten. A USA Today poll surveyed state high school sports associations and found that in at least 34 states, there were districts charging athletes to participate in athletics at the school. The survey also found that 16 states still did not have schools that charged this fee.

In 1993, 1 in 10 Michigan school districts imposed fees for extracurricular activities. By 2007, this figure had risen to over 55 percent. In 2007, 88,000 students in southeast Michigan participated in pay-to-play extracurricular activities, generating revenue of over $10 million for their schools. Fees can be a flat annual fee per student, such as Clarkston schools $200/year rate to as much as $700/year at Northview High School in North Fulton County Georgia. It can also be levied by individual activity: $160 to play football at Romeo High School, $750 to play hockey for Royal Oak High School or $700 to be in the band at Vista Murrieta High School in California. These fees cover expenses such as team camp fees, equipment, pre-game meals, team uniforms and apparel, travel costs, event costs such as referees and timers and end of the year banquets.
Penalizing students whose family does not have the financial ability to pay for these sports has been a concern with the fee-for-participating concept. A study done by Diane Hoff, associate professor of education at University of Maine, found that there was a 35 percent dropoff in participation in athletics when pay-to-play policies were instituted. Further research found that this dropoff occurred when fees rose above $300 annually. Typical fees range between $75 and $100 annually.

Administrators and communities are grappling with ways to balance the benefits from athletics with the rising curriculum demands. Local author Chris Givens' book titled "More Than The Score" illustrates the life lessons learned through sports. His athletic experiences produced meaningful personal reflections such as: be willing to make sacrifices to achieve your goals, take responsibility for your actions, give respect and earn respect, along with many other insightful observations. "More Than The Score" illustrates how the cost of sports cannot be measured in dollars and cents. The lifelong lessons learned in the preparation, participation, and addressing the outcomes of competition are ones whose impact on future achievement are shared in magnitude with the successes garnered in the classroom.

Editor's note: Steve Patchin is Director of Youth Programs Outreach and Engagement at Michigan Technological University.