PAY FOR PLAY POLL

We MIGHT have pay for "get on the team" ...but not playing. We're at a large 6A in Florida, and honestly feel lucky with the professional manner in which our program is run, becausew we dont encounter many (hardly any) of the problems that are described on this board.

Sure, every athlete has to pay a sports fee

I have heard that because of lack of state funding some schools charge for hs sports

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I have heard that because of lack of state funding some schools charge for hs sports

You're right. We have to pay a fee of $300. Everyone pays once the team is selected. Has nothing to do with playing time - it has to do with getting a uniform. The money pays for umpires, security guard (required by law), bus drivers and gas for away games, etc. But it's pretty easily covered by sponsorships (Outfield banners, ads in the media guide, etc.) so very few parents pay all of it out of their pockets, and most get their share completely covered. No one pays more - I don't think any of our parents have the kind of cash that it would take to "buy" playing time.

Would they if they did, and would it work? We share a field with the football team. If someone were to donate the land and build us a new facility, and just happened to have a marginal player, who knows? If I were the coach, I might find a unie for him, but he wouldn't be a starter unless he earned it. The school administration might force the issue and take it out of the coach's hands, which is another story altogether.

Are people confusing a athletic participation fee for a parent putting in the fix with a major donation? I believe the original post is about putting in the fix.

Pardon me if I wasn't clear. We do have a fee at the beginning of the season for uniforms, umpires etc. etc. However, that fee is not volunatry or arbitrary and has nothing to do with playing time. If you make the team, you pay.

Any fundraising you do is credited toward your fees, so you can decrease your fee if you raise more money. But fundraising still doesn't equate to playing time.

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Are people confusing a athletic participation fee for a parent putting in the fix with a major donation? I believe the original post is about putting in the fix.

I don't think anyone's confused - just questions asked and answered. I do wonder about "putting in the fix" as you put it. I don't think it would happen at our school mostly because I don't think anyone has that kind of green. Many can barely come up with the $300, and gripe about that! The rumors among the disgruntled have more to do with volunteers' sons getting the playing time. But looking at other threads, it seems that it's happening in a lot of places and in a lot of different activities. That's kind of scary.

I think people are making conclusions without knowing the facts. If a player gets any kind of "special treatment" like being a starter, then it has to be because "his dad is a coach, his dad bought this for the team," etc. It's another "out" for a parent or player to use to show that the coach is against them. It might just be that a particular player is not a starter because he is not good enough!!

Yep. That's what I am inclined to think, too. But there are a significant number of "yes" answers in the poll. Some of them may have some validity.

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It might just be that a particular player is not a starter because he is not good enough!!

There you go, hurting parents with the truth!

Our high school coach did express astonishment with the number of maximum level ($300) booster donations. I wasn't. It's that kind of area. It may have worked with the last coach (seventeen losing season in twenty years). It won't work with this one (new last year). He's hell bent on building a reputable program. He used to be an assistant at a top tier program. I'm not accusing the prior coach of being bribed. I do know the parents had his ear. The new coach isn't interested in parental input/accessment regarding his roster.

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Originally posted by Bulldog 19:
I think people are making conclusions without knowing the facts. If a player gets any kind of "special treatment" like being a starter, then it has to be because "his dad is a coach, his dad bought this for the team," etc. It's another "out" for a parent or player to use to show that the coach is against them. It might just be that a particular player is not a starter because he is not good enough!!

Absolutely correct, although many people don't want to hear or believe it.

I've seen (with my own eyes) parents collect slush funds (cash) to give to a coach early in the season. Contribute to the slush fund & sign the card. So the coach knew who did & who didn't contribute. He also knew which parents organized the collection.

Among the slush fund organizers were the right fielder's parents. His batting average was about .100, so bad that the coach DH'ed for him. Yes... DH'ed for an outfielder. Never in my life have I seen the DH used for an outfielder. His fielding average was hovering down around .750. Would you say this player was good enough???

On the bench was a player hitting .500, who had not made an error the entire season. But his dad refused to contribute a bribe to the slush fund.

You tell me...

I get sick of people always assuming that there never is any money influence.

You won't see bribes in competent programs.

we have a booster club. they raise money for trips and make lunches etc. the coach doesn't know who, what, or how much. just that the money is there. that's the way it works best.

i want to say this about another thread,the one about the lights. if my community needed lights and someone donated them. i would find a uniform for their son.umless they asked for one. then i'd have to think about it. right or wrong i would. but not playing time. i think it doesn't hurt anyone and it's not taking a spot, if the kid can live with it i guess i can. lights last a loooong time.

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Originally posted by Bulldog 19:
Sure, every athlete has to pay a sports fee

...that made me laugh... a player once told our hs coach "my dad says he paid the same fee as a everyone else... I deserve a chance to play". Coach replied "son, you tell your dad that was just the babysitting fee, and in my opinion he's getting by cheap".

He was only half joking...

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The school administration might force the issue and take it out of the coach's hands, which is another story altogether.

If my administration took it out of my hands then the next thing that would be in my hands would be a letter of resignation. No way would I ever stand for that. Yes they are my bosses but they will never tell me who to play. I don't tell them who to hire to teach English and they won't tell me who to play at shortstop.

I'll be honest I am against a $$$ fee once you make the team even if all players pay the exact same amount. It just doesn't seem right to me. Granted it's easier to do this than to have 100 bake sales and the longer I stay in head coaching the more inclined I am to start doing it but something about it just doesn't seem right to me.

Roster spots are earned not bought. If a parent wants their kid on the team then let the kid get out there and earn it. Putting a kid on the team because the parents put up lights or bought anything period is a disgrace. You earn a jersey. You earn the right to be a part of a team. You dont buy it for your kids. Any program that did anything like this would be the last place I would want to be and the last place I would want my kid to be.

It amazes me to think that anyone would agree or even suggest that something as important as being a part of a team could be bought in any way. The pride is in knowing that you earned the right to wear your schools uniform. It was not given to you. You earned it straight up. Some suggest that this is the norm or happens in alot of places. Ive never been a part of anything like this. I never will be.

Sorry for you guys who all took this to the extreme.
Who in the world would admit such thing like "PAY for PLAY"? I am only talk about close situations here. In a large class HS, except 2 or 3 outstanding players, I am sure from 4-12 are all fairly good, but you only got 9 spots on the field, so who would you start from #4 to #12 player? Most coaches would prefer the kids whose parents have been "involved" more with the team when the players are in the same talent level. This is the case not even close to "Bribery" as some of you suggested.

I am not asking you coaches to start a violinist who never touched baseball in his life to play V/JV basebal in your HS. I never against hard work or talent as some posters misled you. I am only talking about the CLOSE SITUATIONS! the little "EDGE", Please think about it.

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I'll be honest I am against a $$$ fee once you make the team even if all players pay the exact same amount. It just doesn't seem right to me. Granted it's easier to do this than to have 100 bake sales and the longer I stay in head coaching the more inclined I am to start doing it but something about it just doesn't seem right to me.

We don't like it much, either! However, baseball is definitely not a priority at this school. The #1 priority is academics, which is why we are there, the #2 priority is Performing Arts. Honestly, how many of you have to raise money to pay a bus driver to get to away games? Baseball is about 100th on the list. If we are going to have a team, we have to come up with some cash.

Wow, Texan, that's really sad.

I am one of those annoying parents who volunteers a lot, and I see the dollars. I wish I didn't but there you go. Generally what happens is this: we have a few parents who have a lot of community contacts and who care about the program, and usually raise more than their fair share. Others, like me, have taken over sponsorships from players who graduated, and all it takes is a phone call or email and they're glad to pony up the sponsorship for the next season. Easy. I get just enough to cover our $300. We have other parents who can't afford the $300, or don't have any contacts, or for whatever reason can't come up with the money, and occasionally we have parents who have plenty of money but just don't pay. The last two categories are always covered by the first, and it averages out. In the end, every player who makes the team stays on the team, regardless. From what I've seen in 3 years and 2 head coaches, players are separate from their parents - the coach may dislike the parent and love the player. Or, I guess, vice versa.

The person who brought in the most money this year, yes, their son is a starter. To watch him, anyone who doesn't think he should be an everyday player is delusional. I think there are only a couple of us who know how much money they raised. I don't think even the coach knows. They don't know that they raised more than anyone else. There's no question in my mind that their son is out there out there because he earned his spot. There are those who think 2B is a starter because of the things I do for the team. But this year they need only look at the stats. He's hitting .361 after 12 games so they can all kiss my grits! I'm very happy to say that at our school, from what I can see, it's about the player, not the parent or the money.

I don't think baseball is the priority in many schools. It is the most expensive sport in the school that makes the least amount of money. It's not the glamour sport like football and basketball because they have the primetime slot while baseball plays after school.

I suggest that all schools pick their Friday night games and make them primetime games. Have them at 7:00 every Friday night and build it up in the school and community. I can't remember who it was but someone mentioned something like this not that long ago in here.

Ok enough side stuff. 2B mom we save money for our teams because I am the bus driver and I have two assistants who can drive a bus. By doing this we don't have to spend money paying for a driver.

I got a great group of parents who have done a great job in raising money for us. They got creative and did things people usually don't do which has been a huge benefit for us.

Wouldn't it be nice if the school boards would just say that each sport has $15,000 to spend each year?

Our school must just be lucky. I know there's moaning and groaning that goes on when it comes to money. But for the most part, our coaches get what they ask for. Our Booster Club covers all of the sports. They have two main fundraisers; one in the late summer/early fall and another in the late winter/early spring. Then they do concessions and a couple other things throughout the year. The Booster Club pitches in with some expensive stuff that teams need. I know last year they bought a $300 football helmet because that was the only choice there was for a kid to be able to play. He had suffered a few concussions and needed a more advanced helmet. They bought the AD a golf cart a couple years ago. I think the Booster Club buys the baseball team two new bats each spring.

The athletes all pay $45 per sport, but the school district put a cap of $110 per family per year. I kind of wonder what our athletic budget looks like. It seems like there is always someone getting new uniforms or something pretty big. The school pays for the buses; teams don't have to do that.


Sports used to get t-shirts that the Booster Club would pay for. They did away with that a few years ago which was complained about of course. But it makes sense why they did what they did. The money that was being spent on t-shirts now pays to have a certified athletic trainer from a local Physical Therapy/Sports Medicine clinic come 3-4 times a week and he travels with the varsity football team.

I can't say that we have the greatest facilities. There's many things that could be done to make things better. Another field maybe?? I think CoachB25 would agree, though, that we have a pretty nice field. My dad said when we joined our current conference, we had the nicest field in the conference. Several schools have upgraded since then and are right around the middle. We don't have lights, but they don't want lights either though we've had a couple games where it'd be nice to have them.

Like I said, we must be pretty lucky.

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It is the most expensive sport in the school

I don't know why but I always thought football was the most expensive.

33 votes, 23 to 10.
" No's " in the lead.

( popcorn anyone? )

I'd be shocked if baseball really were more expensive than football normally..

I guess I didn't word what I meant clearly enough. Baseball is the most expensive sport outside of football and basketball. Basically baseball costs the most out of the sports that are considered "non-revenue" sports. Football and girls / boys basketball are considered the "revenue" sports.

I know football costs money and in most cases is the most expensive sport there is but through gate receipts a bad team can break even. Basketball makes the most money because they typically have the fewest expenditures.

Baseball can run you some money if you don't watch it. Game balls are about $60 a dozen so you end up with around 15 dozen for varsity, JV and Freshman games. Then you need practice balls for all three teams which if you know where to look you can get them for about $25 - 30 a dozen. Hats, socks, uniform replacements, belts and a whole bunch of other stuff and the numbers start adding up.

Ok hijacking is over.

Coach I see what you're saying. I'd be interested to know how you think girls basketball would be considered a revenue sport. Boys basketball yes, but not girls. Not from what I've seen. Both at a high school where it was downright bad and at a "mid-major" DI where the women's team was pretty good.

I'm kinda curious what kind of money really is spent at some places. I don't know what to think expenses-wise..

I know here the school doesn't pay for hats, socks, belts, etc. I also know they don't get new baseballs every year and I'd be shocked if the program really went through 15 dozen game balls a year.

Bulldog - as for girls being a revenue sport I guess it would come down to the school and community and how good the team is. I live in a basketball community and we only have one school in the system. So there is no sharing of money by other schools. Everyone comes out to the games and pays admission. Our boys teams make money like crazy and they actually pay for the umpires of baseball and softball.

Our girls team will make money (not a lot but finishes in the black) if they are good. If they are bad then they usually break even or finish just in the red. They basically pay for themselves.

Our football team is horrendous - haven't won a game in 2 years - but they usually break even or finish just in the red.

What hurts us in terms of money is we use a community park and cannot charge admission and the concession is ran by the park. We get very little from them for gate and concession. So there is a huge chunk of money gone right now.

Another thing that hurts is we have no industry in our county. Our tax base is very small because it's all farming and undeveloped land. So our small community is sucked dry by all the various organizations at the school. That is a huge reason why I am against a flat rate even if it applies to the entire team. I doubt we could sell enough ads each year for the entire team. For us it wouldn't work.

I know I operate on a budget of around $3000 each year. I drive my own bus and umps are taken care of so that helps a lot.

Some of the things you said Bulldog really surprise me - don't get new baseballs every year really catches me off guard. So when you start a game do you just throw in dirty balls or not quite white balls? Our umps throw balls out when they get dirt on them and we just rub until you can see the white again and throw them back in.

coach, regarding baseballs--- we typically start each game with two brand new baseballs. Then he's got a separate bag of game balls and he'll grab two or three that are in pretty good shape still.

We don't charge admission for baseball, softball, or s****r as well as underclass games for football and basketball. Our baseball field is right along a road that is elevated a little bit above the field. People actually sit and watch the game from the sidewalk. There's no way we could really do it.