Hundreds of students every year are on the fields, courts or mats playing for West Essex sports teams. They practice after school, travel long distances for games and simultaneously manage their schoolwork. Some athletes have dreams of making Varsity while others are simply participating for fun. Regardless of the sport, each student has to pay a $100 activity fee every time they join a team.The only problem with the $100 cost: it’s fabricated. The reality is that athletes end up paying a substantially higher price by the end of their seasons.

While it is valid to say that the only mandatory cost is $100 to be on a sports team, what’s easy to lose sight of are the supplementary costs that arise once on a team. Between team dinners, fan shirts and equipment, the relatively small $100 cost can suddenly balloon to multiple times that.

“I play two sports and I paid the activity fee,” sophomore Francesca Apito said. “I knew that I would have to spend some extra money, yet I was taken aback by the amount of additional expenditures.”

While these kinds of outside costs are not technically mandatory, paying them makes one a “team player.” For some students, this could mean paying secondary costs for one, two or even three sports. Many coaches feel that the extra costs are necessary to raise money which provides teams with more opportunities throughout the season. While West Essex does help financially support teams, the teams also have the responsibility of financially supporting themselves.

“We do various fundraisers to raise money for our golf program,” Junior Varsity Golf Coach Dean Ratajczak said. “If students contribute, it benefits our program.”
Since these expenses are not explicitly stated upfront, many students and parents are astounded by the sum of money they ultimately spend over the course of a season or a school year. At first, some athletes fail to notice the amount of money they are spending. Once the expenses pile up, it becomes clear that they have paid far over the starting price. This adds additional and unnecessary stress to students’ lives.

The lack of forewarning that West Essex gives athletes about these expenses needs to change. It is especially problematic for families who have multiple children playing sports at West Essex. Those families will have to pay these secondary costs multiple times.

Athletes should be notified about the multiple fundraising efforts they will be asked to participate in that will far outweigh the initial payment fee– directly and clearly by the school in advance of the season. Whether this notification is located on forms, sent in an email or made over the announcements, it should be conveyed to athletes in some manner.

Each student at West Essex who plays a sport should be excited for the opportunity to make new friends and become a better athlete–not worried about spending money on unforseen expenses.