It used to be that being able to go out for the high school sports team was a right of passage for any student looking to have a well rounded scholastic experience, but now given the troubling economic situation in the US we are seeing more and more schools charge for the privilege to be on a sports team. As a reaction to drastic budget cuts, many public high schools are considering charging students a participation fee to take part in inter-scholastic sports teams. This phenomenon has caused an uproar in many school districts. Families with budgets already stretched thin are having to choose between necessities and their children's extra-curricular activities. For some families in these hard times, a fee as little as fifty dollars is too much and because of this, there are many promising young athletes missing out on opportunities that could be integral to their development both on and off the field.

For some coaches, the imposition of an activity fee for student athlete participation is met with mixed emotions. Some coaches are welcoming the much needed revenue for their schools' sports programs. They realize that the supplies, the sports benches and facilities don't pay for themselves and in this day and age of cash-strapped government budgets, they believe that these fees can act as a welcome buffer between their programs current state and possible insolvency. There are even some coaches who see these types of fees as an added incentive for high school students to take their roles as student athletes more seriously because they believe that if sports participation is a privilege that must be paid for, the students will put in the necessary work on and off the field to preserve their place on the team.

On the other hand, there are coaches that see these participation fees as a very serious problem. They worry about the fairness of the fee to students who can't afford to pay the fees. One has to worry whether or not these extra costs will act as a deterrent to students that come from low income households. Some see this movement toward charging students to play sports as a threat to the ability to keep star players on their rosters. This can have many detrimental effects on sports programs, future school funding and most importantly, the kids.

Although there are financial needs that schools much meet to keep their doors open, school officials should take a long hard look at whether or not passing the costs down to students and families, those whom the schools are built to serve and nurture, is a good idea. Yes it does cost money to keep teams in uniforms and pay for new fields and bleachers, but a thorough accounting of available funds should be done before passing the costs down to families that already pay taxes to support the public schools that are supposed to be providing students a well rounded education. There shouldn't be any differentiation between education in the class room or in sports and as public servants, those who run our public schools should find ways to support all aspects of high school student's education on the budget they are given.