Athletes' field of dreams proves costly

Jun 19, 2010 — The Telegraph (Nashua, N.H.)

Michael Brindley

Jun. 13, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- NASHUA -- If George Landry wants to play lacrosse for his high school next year, it's going to cost him.

Landry, an eighth-grader at Elm Street Middle School, was at Nashua High School South on Tuesday to pick up his athletics packet for next year. In addition to the packet, Landry and other students were given the list of fees they'll be charged to play their respective sports.

Playing lacrosse will mean plunking down $150 to take the field.

Landry had heard about the possibility of pay to play becoming reality next year, but this made it official. Not surprisingly, Landry was opposed to the idea of having to shell out the money for the opportunity to play high school sports.

"I thought we already paid taxes for this," he said.

Landry's friends were equally frustrated with the new requirement. Alex Lake, also an eighth-grader from Elm Street, plans to play hockey and golf next year. That will cost $650, with hockey alone running $500.

Lake said he already pays up to $1,000 for equipment for the sport.

"If they didn't have to pay last year, why should we have to pay next year?" he said.

With next year's School District budget now approved by the Board of Aldermen, school officials said last week that charging students to play sports and take part in extracurricular activities is -- barring some unforeseen windfall -- a certainty. The budget, as approved, has a $200,000 hole that will be filled through the fees.

"I don't think anybody is thinking this will be rescinded in the budget process," Superintendent Mark Conrad said.

In other words, pay to play is finally coming to Nashua. But there remains several questions, such as how and when the money is going to be collected.

Conrad said he met with officials in the athletic and business departments last week to begin moving forward with the plan to roll out a user fee system when school starts back up again in the fall.

"The first challenge is working through all of the details and beginning to actively plan for implementing it," Conrad said.

The three-tier fee schedule for sports is essentially set, unless the Board of Education opts to change it before the next school year. Hockey will be the most expensive at $500, with most of the other sports, including baseball, football and soccer, costing $150.

The more inexpensive sports, such as track, cheerleading and tennis, will cost only $50.

Multisport athletes will be capped at paying for two sports. Students who are eligible for free or reduced lunch may have the fees waived.

Perhaps the biggest question mark is the $25 "activity fee," which is also included in the district's budget. The fee, a one-time payment for the school year, will be required of all students who want to take part in any sports or clubs that require an adviser. Still unclear, however, is what else students would get for paying the fee and whether students who don't play sports or belong to a club would pay it. Conrad said some of the ideas are to tie the fee to other activities, such as entrance into school dances and sporting events.

"That's the level of detail we need to work through," Conrad said. "We need to put more definition in it."

Nashua will hardly be the first district in New Hampshire to implement fees for sports.

A survey conducted by the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association in the fall of 2008 found one-third of high schools have a fee system for sports. In the survey, 32 of the 92 NHIAA member schools said they were charging for some or all sports.

Among those schools is Souhegan High School in Amherst, which, as of this year, charged $100 per sport, with a family cap of $400.

Nashua South football coach Scott Knight is no stranger to athletic user fees. He has been paying them to Souhegan for his daughter, who plays volleyball. He doesn't think the $150 to play football at South will keep a lot of potential players away from the sport, but worries about the kids on the bubble.

"The way I understand it, the students who receive free or reduced lunches will be exempt," Knight said. "But there are a handful of kids who qualify but don't ask for the money for a number of reasons. To them, $150 is a large chunk of change."

That isn't all football players will have to pay for in an average season. Some buy their own helmets for $175 or more. A good pair of cleats can run in the $100 range, and team apparel with the South logo, such as sweatshirts and shorts, can run $100 more.

Although coaches at North and South knew user fees were likely for the 2010-11 school year, most were still waiting for instructions and the official per-sport tally early last week.

The Board of Education voted in February to institute a pay to play system in its budget for next year, as opposed to saving money by eliminating the most costly sports, hockey and skiing, which is what Conrad had originally recommended.

User fees nearly happened in Nashua in 2005 when the school board approved it. But it was avoided when an anonymous donor provided the $200,000 needed to make up the difference, ensuring that students wouldn't have to pay.

Board of Education President Robert Hallowell said there are no indications that anyone is going to be coming forward with a check this time around. And considering the state of education funding, there is nothing to indicate that user fees will go away after this year, he said.

"I don't foresee there being dramatic changes in the funding levels for education or that challenges will get easier as we move forward," he said. "Personally, I suspect that it's something that's here to stay."

Tom Arria, who has been hired as Nashua's new athletic director, said Thursday that while no one likes user fees, they're becoming a reality in most school districts.

"The rising cost of continuing to run athletic programs has to be supplemented in some way," he said.

Arria is coming from Dedham, Mass., which has a $125 user fee. Critics of fees argue it will keep students from playing, but Arria said to his knowledge, officials in Dedham were able to work with families to make sure any students who wanted to play were able to.

"I would look to maintain that philosophy in Nashua," he said.

Staff writer Gary Fitz contributed to this article.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0136-46237567