Cost Of School Sports

Whenever someone goes to a school they are going to see that they have a sports team; however, people do not know how much these activities actually cost. According to author Amanda Ripley in a recent article about sports, she states that a grass field can cost more than $20,000 a year (2). “For travel games, schools pay for the busses for teams and also for the band, cheerleaders, and hotels” (Ripley 4). This evidence shows that schools have money but they’re using on sports; instead of using the money on sports they can use it on the education or new technology for the school. Therefore if districts want to save any money they should really consider suspending after school sports.

Every year, thousands of kids move to the United States from all over the world. Something that constantly surprises them is, sports are a big deal in American schools. But some schools are taking away sports. Schools should get rid of sports.

With society’s ever increasing price tag of education, public schools have gone to great lengths to cut costs from the unessential activities during and after school hours. First it was music programs and art classes; however, with the desperate need for teachers, athletic programs have felt the grunt of this expedition. Now, more than ever, youths in our communities are battling serious problems. Not only are sports and organized athletic programs vital to physical development, but also mental growth and offer children structure and goals. Unfortunately, many schools have to cut back or even eliminate sports/athletic programs due to lack of funding.

For many years, people have debated about the importance of keeping sports in academic environments, or getting rid of them. Athletic activities have always been in U.S schools, but getting rid of them could allow kids to focus on their studies and increase their academic skill. Therefore, sports should be discarded in academic institutions to save money, allow more time for kids to study, and have additional activities available to students.

Imagine you’re a teenager in a high school who is involved in athletics, and sports are the one thing you love doing the most. Now imagine that one day out of nowhere your sports team was cut, and the one thing that you so deeply loved you are no longer able to do. A lot of people wonder if sports are too much of a priority in schools, and whether or not they should be cut. Students disagree that sports are too much of a priority, and claim athletics make them the person that they are, and that they wouldn’t be the same without sports. School districts should not cut sport programs because they benefit students, they bring in money and publicity to the school, and it gives the students a fit and healthy lifestyle.

“3 seconds left, we have the ball, enough time for one play. Number 3 lines up at receiver, the quarterback yells “Hike!” He goes long, the quarterback throws the ball as far as he can, he jumps up and snatches the ball out of the air, touchdown!” Game over, we win by one point! Do you want to get rid of a moment like this? “Being a student today is harder than ever. You are held to tougher academic standards - and so is your school. The stress can get so intense, it feels paralyzing.” That is why schools should have sports. Schools should not get rid of sports programs because club or private sports can be too expensive, and sports improve students’ health

In the United States, schools spend more than double the amount of tax dollars on high school athletes than schools do on students. Americans have taken delightful pride and joy in sporting events for decades in both primary and secondary schooling. Meanwhile, in recent years the U.S. has fallen behind drastically in academic rankings. Some argue that sports actually help engage students in school, notwithstanding the statistics show otherwise. Schools spend too much time and money on sports, resulting in poor academic scores

School sports are very controversial and one of the main reasons is lack of funding. According to an article by Amanda Ripley, Premont Independent School District in Texas was on the verge of closing down because of financial shortages, but when they cut sports from the budget, they saved 150 thousand dollars (11). Ripley continues by saying if a school wants to improve items like bleachers,

From 2011-2012, 1,340 schools were closed down across the nation, but what if the solution to stopping this were as simple as temporarily suspending or even ending their athletic programs? If school run sports were to be privately funded by other organizations than students could not only excel in academics but the schools would have more funding to further the education of these students.

One of the main problems that schools have with sports is that they cost too much money. According to Amanda Ripley “bleachers can cost a half a million dollars and maintaining a grass field can be more than $20,000 a year” (10). She also said that “ when teacher-coaches travel for games, schools must hire substitutes

As many schools know, districts spend money on unnecessary items when they should be using the funds for education. In “Yes! It Is Time To Scale Back, Amanda Ripley states that “New bleachers can cost half a million dollars” (11). “When teachers-coaches travel to a game schools have to hire substitutes”, “They also have to buy for the buses, for the team, the band, and the cheerleaders”

Why should we not eliminate all athletic programs in our school? Sport teams keep the students being a better person. It helps the students have the good physical activity they need to stay healthy. A lot of people love the idea of sports. It teaches them good teamwork, how to be respectful to others and many other reasons. It encourages each one of them to keep their grades up so they can be a part of the team. It helps them concentrate on wanting to get better at what they do instead of being on drugs or a part of gangs. We should not eliminate sport teams so students get the good physical activity they need, stay out of drugs and gangs, encourages them to keep their grades up, and teaches them how to be a part of a team.

Students are lacking in academic focus during athletics; therefore, after school sports should be erased so this problem can be fixed once and for all. According to an article by Amanda Ripley, “athletics even dictate when school starts: despite research showing that later start times improve student performance, many schools begin before 8 a.m., partly to reserve afternoon daylight hours for athletic practice” (11). In addition, during the football season, players and the band spend several hours practicing each night (Ripley, 11). This data demonstrates why sports are creating a distraction; it would contribute to better grades and more focus in class. Therefore, schools that want their students to succeed academically should remove after school sports because they are producing a disturbance.

Schools across the country are debating if they should retain sports or eliminate them. Those that have already removed them saved thousands of dollars. Therefore, so students can have a better education, schools should abolish sports to save money, prevent lower test scores, and provide the student body with more sleep.

To begin with, sports open up more opportunities and places for student-athletes to play in. In a middle school in a district in Easton Area, considered eliminating the school 's athletic program and which was a move that