Controversial fees: Metro prep athletes pay to play

At dozens of metro Atlanta high schools, football programs are asking athletes to pay in order to play.

The cost, ranging from $20 to $500 per player, may cover anything from coaching salary supplements to uniforms.

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Vino Wong/vwong@ajc.com

Though some schools don’t ask their players and their parents for fees to play, others require a minimum donation to become a member of the booster club.

It’s a controversial, complicated — and potentially lucrative — issue for many schools.

Mandating that students pay to play sports is not allowed in any school district in metro Atlanta. So football programs walk a fine line, saying the “registration fees” and “player dues” are really donations. In some cases, the money is collected through booster clubs.

An AJC survey of 68 metro Atlanta high schools found that 38 schools ask their players for money. Stephenson, M.L. King and Lithonia ask the most, $500 per player.

Many schools do not initially tell parents that paying the fee is optional, and information on some team Web sites and in documents parents are required to fill out seems to indicate the fees are mandatory:

• At DeKalb County’s Stephenson High, the booster club’s Web site warns: “If your son has made the summer cut for the football team, your dues of $500 [are] due no later than Saturday, August 2nd. No exceptions!”

• At Avondale, the team posts a letter called, “Player Dues.” “In planning for a successful season, we have learned that it takes sufficient financial resources to meet the needs of a winning program. Therefore, it is essential that each student-athlete pay dues this season. Dues for this season will be $450.”

• The Web site for Northview High in north Fulton County explains that it costs “over $900 per player to fund” the football program. The letter, which explained the registration costs, said the team “will have to rely on registration fees and Touchdown Club membership from each participant. For the 2008 football season, you should expect to pay” $300 for registration fee and $150 to $500 to join the school’s Touchdown Club.

Cobb County athletics director Steve Jones said he has had to explain to complaining parents three times this season that the fees are voluntary.

“I’ve had to have conversations with athletic directors telling them they need to say it in such a way as to indicate that it’s highly encouraged, not mandatory,” Jones said. “You can’t tell a kid he can’t play football because he can’t pay his fees.”

Stephenson coach Ron Gartrell said fees were waived this season for 10 or 15 players who could not pay. He said the message on the school’s Web site is directed to parents, not players.

“I think the booster club put that statement in there so parents can call if they don’t have the money and, if that’s the case, come talk to us and we’ll work this thing out,” Gartrell said. “They expect all parents to pay, but at no time are my players told they can’t be part of the team because they don’t pay their dues.”

Several coaches said they had to charge players because they had no other choice.

“You feel bad asking the kids to pay, but we really don’t have any other way,” said Mount Zion-Jonesboro coach Jarrett Laws, who asks for $150 per player. “If you want your kids to stand on an equal power with some of the programs we play, this is almost a requirement.”

The notion that the fees are voluntary doesn’t really wash, Jonesboro coach Clint Satterfield said.

“We’ve done it in the past, but what do you do if they don’t pay?” said Satterfield, who does not charge his players to play. “You’ve got parents of the kids who did pay, and they expect more playing time, or they expect the ones that don’t pay not to play.”

Georgia High School Association executive director Ralph Swearngin worries that “subtle” forms of pay-to-play will discourage players whose families can’t afford it. But he also acknowledges the increasing costs of funding school sports. Tax money can’t be used to fund high school sports, so programs must rely on fund-raising and gate receipts.

“Revenue streams have to be found somewhere,” Swearngin said. “I would like to see school-based athletics offered without any costs to the participants, but that is more difficult to achieve these days. Economic concerns are prevalent with lots of budget cuts occurring.”

At the schools that charge fees, all coaches and athletic directors interviewed said the payments are voluntary. Students are not barred from playing if they do not pay, they said.

M.L. King coach Corey Jarvis said players may do extra chores instead of paying. Northview’s Jim Showfety says parents may volunteer to work in concessions. Coaches at Cross Keys in DeKalb have paid their players’ $50 fee out of their own pockets, head coach David Radford said.

At Avondale, players are asked to pay $450, but the alumni association takes care of hardship cases, and fees are waived for about half the players who cannot pay. Lovejoy coach Al Hughes said he has found part-time jobs for players. This season, he’s charging only $22 because of the economy.

For some parents, the fees are expected.

“You pay, you work your concession shift; it’s all part of it,” said Dawn Brooks, the mother of a player at Harrison High in Cobb County. “Those who come through the feeder system are used to it. Parents who complain would be those who don’t see where the money goes.”

For others, it’s a struggle to pay.

Gloria Hardeman, whose son plays at Avondale, said she didn’t realize the $450 fee at the school was optional. She paid what she could afford, and her son played.

“I think it’s a little too much,” said Hardeman, who said she paid $150. “I got six kids and I got a mortgage, and everybody’s got a need, but I do pay what I can because Matthew likes the game, and I like to see him doing what he likes.”

Until the past decade or so, players and their families rarely were asked to help financially.

But nationwide, participation fees have become mandatory in some districts as the cost of running programs has increased. A USA Today survey of high school associations in 2004, the last year figures were available, found that pay-to-play existed in 34 of 50 states.

Georgia remains in the minority. A Georgia Department of Education guideline states that school systems may charge fees for extracurricular activities, but not as a condition of participation. Although a DOE spokesman said it is unclear whether the guideline would apply to sports, Swearngin of the GHSA said he is not aware of any school system in Georgia that mandates a pay-to-play policy.

In the case of athletics, it’s rare for the department to deal with the issue.

Georgia schools have found that most families will find a way to pay.

“The player fees are our No. 1 fund-raiser in the program,” Harrison coach David Hines said. The fees — $395 each from 150 players — project to $59,250 and also fund the middle school football program.

“We have been able to put in a turf field, build a fieldhouse and supply our kids with every advantage we can to help them be successful,” Hines said.

At Creekside in south Fulton, coach Kevin Whitley said his $300 per-player fees go toward a summer team camp in South Georgia ($160), pregame meals ($70), apparel ($20) and general booster club funds ($50).

M. L. King’s $500 fees pay for a football camp, meals, apparel, banquet and coaching supplements, Jarvis said.

In some cases, player donations are separate from booster club dues charged to families. Walton High in East Cobb has no player fees, but booster club memberships start at $500.

Some families say the fees are an investment into their school’s program and their children.

“When I was back in school, which was way back, the players didn’t have to put out the type of money that they do now,” said Sonia Williams, who paid $500 as the mother of a Stephenson player. “However, the football dues are necessary for the expenses incurred. It is a lot, but you do it so the kids can have what they need to be the best team possible.”

Some coaches say Stephenson asks for $500 because it can. The Stone Mountain school is a state power with more than 25 alumni on college rosters this season.

“When you’re up there and you’ve got notoriety, it’s easy to say, ‘This is what you have to pay,’ ” said Tony Rambo, the new coach at Therrell, an Atlanta school that is winless this season. “It’s supply and demand. But the desire to be in this program right now is not that great.”

Some of the state’s coaches simply don’t believe the requests for funds are necessary.

“Think about how much money football games make on Friday nights at places with successful programs or where athletics drives the community and the school system,” said Jesse Hicks of Baldwin High in Milledgeville. “Why should any athlete have to pay to play?”

— Michael Carvell, S. Thomas Coleman, Michael Alpert, Glenn LaFollette, Chris Whitfield, Rob Morton, Phillip Giltman, Robert Haddocks, Kurt Aschermann Jr. and Jay Stone contributed to this report.