Costs of School Athletics Is Increasing: 4 Things You Must Know - by Sarah Daren
From the Coach’s Clipboard Basketball Playbook "Helping coaches coach better..."
High-school sports have gained major popularity among students as well as parents of the United States. More and more students are taking part in sport events in their respective schools. All of this has led to an augmentation in the overall costs of school athletics. In this regard, there are some things that you should know, particularly if you are a high school student or a parent.
Schools take up a considerable amount of tax dollars
The United States spends a lot of tax dollars when it comes to a high school athlete as compared to a high school math student on a daily basis; though this is not the case with other nations across the world. This is why America lags in the total ranking in terms of international education.
In this nation, sports are given a lot of heed as reported by a South Korean girl. She says that her school has teams in 18 sports over one year, which also includes sports like bowling and golf. American schools are famous for their inclination towards sports.
The amount of money every US parent spends on sports per year
In a year, parents spend approximately $671 in the United States on high school athletics, which include uniforms and hefty fees for lessons, coaching, and registration. A minimum of 2 in 10 parents, which is 21%, spend more than $1,000 on one child in a year.
Amongst these, 42% families that have children between the age group of 12 and 17 had a minimum of one child that played sports in the academic year of 2014 and 2015 and 58% families had kids that did not play sports. Out of the 58% families, 14% say that the reason behind this is the high costs of athletics in schools.
Even though parents spend a lot of money on sports activities every year, they are cognizant about the returns they get when their child participates in any sports event in school. This return outweighs the initial cost they spend.
Both parents as well as coaches now concentrate on the development and learning opportunities that sports provide to children. By being a part of a sports team, students are able to learn essential skills and gain knowledge that is demanded by both employers as well as universities.
This is why parents are willing to pay the fees required for school sports' participation. More importantly, they understand that when their child partakes in school athletics, he or she will become more likely to carry on with their education even after high school and thus earn a higher salary in their career.
The rise in school sports participation
High school sports participation is booming day by day. The number of members in high school sports has grown from the last 28 years consecutively, nearing the 8 million mark. In 2015, 7,807,047 high school students took part in sports, which were only 11,389 in the year 2014.
Amongst these, 3,287,735 participants were girls and 4,519,312 participants were boys. The number of girls' participation was the highest in the year 2015 with 42.11% and the number of boys' participation was the second highest amidst all the years with 57.88%.
These figures were reported by the NFHS (National Federation of State High School Association). It also reported that the top 5 high school sports for girls include track and field, volleyball, basketball, soccer, and fast-pitch softball. And the top 5 high school sports for boys include 11-player football, track and field, basketball, baseball, and soccer.
So, these are the things that you must know about the rising costs of high school athletics. According to reports, these costs are more likely to augment in the near future. However, parents as well as kids can always take advantage of the sponsorship programs that can help students to waive off the high costs of sports. Seeing the booming athletic costs in schools, such programs will get more recognition, thus leading to an increase in them as well, in turn, helping the students and parents.
Sarah Daren is a featured writer on the Today Show website and has been a consultant for organizations across a number of industries including athletics, health and wellness, technology and education. When she's not caring for her children or watching the New York Yankees play, Sarah enjoys practicing yoga and reading a good book on the beach.
