“The more you pay, the more you play,” is a commonly held belief among club and high school sport participants. As youth sport organizations experience greater financial demands to support effective programming, a growing trend to shift the burden of cost has moved from the programs to the athletes and parents. While club sports have always been known to charge participant costs, many high schools across America now charge participation fees, which vary from sport-to-sport and school-to-school.
On the surface, paying to play sports has both is benefits to supporting athletic programming, but can also be just as harmful. Year after year, public schools face steep budget cuts with extracurricular activities often first to face the brunt of the costs. To help remedy such issues, pay-to-play systems have been installed, where athletes pay a fee to play their sport of choice. Schools also rely on booster clubs and fundraising to supplement budget losses, just for their athletes to be able to play with the proper equipment, wear uniforms, travel, etc. Such initiatives often save sports from being completely cut, providing more opportunities for student-athletes. In the club realm, pay-to-play is even more abundant than what is experienced in interscholastic competition. If a high school program is cut, a club program may be available for athletes, affording them the competitive outlet they desire. The club sport circuit also affords them greater exposure, but that exposure comes with a high price point.
The harmful impact is just as evident and incredibly concerning. Parents may pay tens-of-thousands of dollars just so their athlete can play their sport, with costs skyrocketing the more they play, especially for teams that travel out of their state to compete on a national level. At times, the greater the exposure, the more opportunity exists to be recognized and seen by college recruiters, can pay dividends, albeit the small percentage of athletes that go on from the high school and club level to play collegiate athletics. However, the high costs to play are all too often out of reach for many families that cannot afford the price to play, ultimately, creating a widening of gap of competitive abilities and opportunities all created by the mighty dollar.
Club Sports vs High School Sports 