I believe I saw an issue of "The Atlantic" with the cover story "Pay to Play", talking about the increasing costs of kids joining traveling teams for various sports.
I don't understand what the problem is here...
As best as I can remember, we (my family and I) had to pay for me to join sporting competitions...
Was that not the case for you?
Ever since I was five (5), it cost money to participate. How else are the coaches supposed to get paid for their work? $10 to play T-Ball in the hellhole I grew up in. Also had to pay for school teams as well, not just those run by the town's parks department.
Same for school teams too. Ten or twenty dollars for football or basketball.
Sure, once you were playing on the varsity squad, people had to pay to get INTO the games...
And granted, once I moved out to the Marshall Islands, I didn't have to worry about participation fees. We usually bought new uniforms with our own money year to year, because the school didn't provide us with any (as we were the only school on base, and we'd occasionally play some of the schools with native Marshallese in the base's rec leagues, AGAINST ADULTS (who had to pay an entry fee). If the school wasn't covering that, I bet we would have to pay like the grownups...
If I recall correctly, the story in "The Atlantic: was talking about the rising costs of kids being on travel teams. That there was some kind of possibility that some kids would get priced out of being on the team. But that wouldn't be the end of the line... Right? A kid can't afford to be on a travel team..
OK, fine, they go play on the school's varsity team(s)...
Or is that not the case? I don't have kids, so I wouldn't know what's going on first hand. I don't have to help them go through the grind to tryout, buy gear to play, drive to games across the state (especially one as big as California)...
Does anyone have experience that they could shed some light for me?
To me, "Pay to Play" is how it's SUPPOSED to work. Where and when has that ever been any different?
P.S. - If you can direct me to a digital link to read the article in "The Atlantic", I'd appreciate it. Thank you...
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Also, without the "Pay to Play" format, how do you expect the teams to pay for travel, coaches, referees, etc.? I doubt they'd be putting up with that up with that shit of the goodness of their hearts (especially considering the horror stories I've heard, read, and seen about asshole parents criticizing every call made on (and sometime off) the field....
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