By providing necessary equipment and waiving the activity fee, the district helps students balance the price of sports.
Sports require a lot of equipment that many Souderton students choose to pay top dollar for, despite better equipment not always leading to a better skill set.
“The best player in the school, her stick is $120 for field hockey. Can you spend $500? Yes. Does it make you a better player? No,” Athletic Director Dennis Stanton said. “[Spending a lot of money on equipment is] not indicative of your skillset or experience.”
According to The Aspen Institute, the average family spends $883 annually for one child’s primary sport.
Stanton said that the school helps students in financially challenging situations. For students that have free or reduced lunches, the activity fee, a fee that all athletes pay to enter any type of sport at school, is waived.
Beyond the fee and basic equipment that the school can help to provide, the students also don’t have to pay for special or commemorative wear.
“They don’t need a hooded sweatshirt. They don’t need to buy sweatpants that says ‘Souderton Football.’ They can still play without putting up any money,” Stanton said.
Yet, that doesn’t stop many athletes from buying very expensive equipment.
“My current [lacrosse] stick was about $500. It’s a custom stick, it’s custom head and custom stringing and I just recently had it restrung,” sophomore Tori Puente said. “My cleats are probably $150, my goggles are probably $70. [For my] mouth guard, I have to constantly get a new one, those are probably $30.”
Prices increase depending on the sport a student decides to enroll themselves in.
“I just recently got a new baseball bat and baseball glove, and that costed $700,” junior Jason Garbacz said. “The glove was $200 to $300 and the bat was $350. I have a helmet, $30, baseball bag, $40, baseball gloves, $40, pants, $20.”
According to senior Ashley Paturzo, field hockey can get very expensive.
“For the equipment I needed this year, my stick was $250. I had to get shin guards which are usually around $40 to $60, depending on the kind you get. A glove, which is easily $40. [A] mouth guard, probably the better ones are usually $20. I need a sports brace which is over $100,” Paturzo said.
With high tabs like these, why do students spend so much money for equipment that may not affect their ability to play?
“I like buying my own equipment because there are millions of gloves out there and I like to pick out a glove that fits me best,” Garbacz said.
Paturzo agrees, “I enjoy having my own stuff,” Paturzo said. “[I enjoy] how I’m keeping it proper and that’s my own and I don’t have to share with anyone, the cleanliness of it too.” For Paturzo, owning her own equipment, “gives you a chance to play outside of school.”
