CLEVELAND — Between school supplies, clothes and shoes, parents find this to be one of the most expensive times of the year, especially if your student plays sports.
In Mentor, high school athletes pay on a family basis. Students are charged $200 for the first sport and $50 for additional sports thereafter.
In Wickliffe, fees payable to participate are $190 for the first sport with an additional $50 for any other sport.
“Footballs and other game balls and uniforms, all of those things go up in cost,” Mentor Athletic Director Jeff Casella said. “As much as we’d like to pay to participate, these or other things will disappear.”
Pay-to-play entry fees cover everything from equipment to officials and security to game night personnel. But the biggest expense for most athletic departments comes as no surprise: transportation.
“I think the biggest limitation for an after-school program is transportation because we bus students all over Northeast Ohio all the way to Columbus,” Wickliffe City Schools Superintendent Joe Spiccia said.
High school sports have seen an increase in participation recently, and some districts are even adding teams to their athletic programs, such as bowling. With an influx of students participating in sports, colleges need to provide adequate and top-of-the-line equipment.
“A lot of the equipment that we have to buy, we have to buy, is more expensive because it’s safer,” Spiccia said. “Those additions lead to increased costs. That’s something our board will address because they just believe in the programs. We believe in the programs.”
But times are tight and rising costs have everyone assessing their finances, leaving many parents wondering if the prices at their student’s school will also rise. Fortunately, most school districts have built-in safety nets to help offset any budget concerns parents may have.
“We’re pretty fortunate because the families or the student-athletes that need help were able to do that through some of our booster club organizations and some fundraising activities that we do,” Casella said.
With the cost of high school athletics subtly increasing over time, school administrators say, News 5 spoke with, the cost of playing won’t.
“The last thing we want to do is exclude any child from participating because they can’t afford to pay to participate or their family can’t afford it,” Casella said.
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