Barbara Vogel’s granddaughter is a promising softball player at Copper Hills High School: She was selected for the varsity team as a freshman, plays club ball and may be talented enough to earn a college scholarship.
But just before the 2023-24 season, which will be Vogel’s granddaughter’s first high school career, the family was a bit surprised to find out how much it would cost for her to play.
Vogel’s family paid more than $1,500 for their granddaughter to play softball at Copper Hills, including a $400 participation fee mandated by the Jordan School District and a $1,150 fee mandated by the school itself. A $20 end-of-year banquet was optional.
“I was just amazed at the price,” Vogel said.
The cost of playing high school sports in Utah has risen in recent years. Each school district in the state sets its own fees for what are considered extracurricular sports, and because these fees are at the highest end, parents may not be paying the full amount.
In the Salt Lake School District, for example, maximum fees for most sports increased by more than $300 between the 2021-22 and 2023-24 school years, with the increases approaching $400 for some sports, including football and boys lacrosse.
Most schools have district-wide fees for each sport, regardless of which school the athlete attends, but in the Jordan School District, each school charges its own fee in addition to the fee imposed by the district.
“That was shocking to me because you have to pay to play,” Vogel said. “It makes the sport an elitist activity, because I’m sure there are so many kids out there who want to play but can’t afford it. It’s sad.”
School districts have caps on how much they can charge for sports, based on the number of students as well as the type of sport, and the amounts vary by district and sport.
The state released an audit in 2018 that found schools were charging exorbitant, even illegal, fees to students for sports. Six years later, some families are still having problems.
Making Sacrifices
There was a lot of activity inside the UCCU Center at Utah Valley University last month, the site of the first boys volleyball state championship since the Utah High School Activities Association sanctioned the sport.
Amid the excitement of multiple games going on at the same time, and between cheering for her son, Kai, Ashley Sorenson lamented how difficult it is to pay to attend sports, especially for families with less disposable income.
“It’s hard to maintain balance and have money [or time] “It’s hard to go for family vacations,” Sorenson said, “These sports are expensive and time consuming, so I think it’s hard, but it’s definitely a sacrifice for the family.”
For some families, the burden of tuition has been so great that it has forced them to make other financial sacrifices: Vogel’s family cut back on eating out, changed summer vacation plans, forgot to buy lagoon passes and postponed home renovations.
“Something has to be cut,” Vogel said, adding that she and her son never paid a dime for sports as children.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake City Tribune) Brighton will host the East High School football game on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, at Cottonwood Heights.
Sorenson’s son, Kai, plays volleyball and basketball at Skyline in the Granite School District, and she also has a daughter who swims.
At Granite, the maximum fee for volleyball is $550.00. Basketball is $900.00 and swimming is $300.00.
Kai’s volleyball is the family’s biggest expense: Sorenson said Kai plays on a club volleyball team, which costs $4,800 a year, not including food and other travel expenses.
Although club sports programs are outside the purview of high schools, many top-level athletes who aspire to play in college play for school and club in the same year to gain maximum exposure.
Maximum charge, minimum effect (in some cases)
Many parents do not pay the maximum fees allowed for their children to play sports, and in most cases the fees are reduced through various fundraising efforts.
Gavin Noyes, whose son, Ilario, is a sophomore on the Highland High School tennis team, said he and his wife are “nowhere near” the $1,938 maximum the Salt Lake City school district has outlined for the 2023-24 school year. In reality, he said, it’s more like $250.
Jeff Haddock’s daughter, Josie, is a freshman who plays on the girls lacrosse, soccer and basketball teams at Hillcrest High School in the Canyons School District. He said he pays about $350 for lacrosse, $550 for soccer and $800 for basketball.
The maximum fees for those sports at Canyons are $2,570 each for lacrosse and basketball, and $2,370 for soccer.
Haddock said fundraising has meant he barely had to pay for football, but fundraising wasn’t as successful during basketball season, and he has an older daughter who played soccer and basketball at Hillcrest about five years ago, when those sports “didn’t cost as much” at the time.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake City Tribune) Brighton will host Corner Canyon in high school basketball on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, at Cottonwood Heights.
Gavin Gustafson has two daughters who play sports: Samantha, a senior, plays lacrosse at Skyline High School in the Granite School District, and Gianna, who plays lacrosse and soccer at Judge Memorial High School, a private Catholic school.
Gustafson said the cost of lacrosse at Skyline High School in 2022 is $323. But this school year, the cost has ballooned to $540, a figure he said he was surprised by. The maximum fee for lacrosse at Granite High School is $800.
Meanwhile, the cost of having Gianna play two sports at Judge Memorial is “significantly less” than it would cost Samantha to play just one sport at a public school, Gustafson said.
For Gustafson, the costs are manageable for now.
“We’re lucky that the amount hasn’t become cost-prohibitive yet,” Gustafson said, “but we’re not so lucky.”
Michelle Martineau, whose son is a junior on the Brighton High School junior volleyball team, said her family pays about $1,500 a year. In Canyons, where Brighton is located, the maximum price for baseball is $2,820 for the 2023-24 school year, and is set to increase by $40 next school year.
Martineau is extremely unhappy with the way players and parents are being asked to raise funds to lower the fees: He said players are being asked to hire local businesses to advertise banners at the stadium, which could potentially lower the fee by $500.
But Martineau opted not to let her son do the recruiting, and instead she had to pay $600 for a generic banner.
Martineau said she also had to buy items to put in baskets for the silent auction, and she had to find people to attend a pickleball tournament and pay the $100 entry fee.
Martineau said her family is in a position to pay tuition fees, but that it’s “not ideal” because “it costs a lot of money.”
Martineau said she wouldn’t have been able to afford tuition at another point in her life.
“If I was in the position I was in five years ago, living off my income, it wouldn’t be possible,” Martineau said. “Even if your kid loves baseball and wants to play, there’s no way you can make the money to do that and still pay the mortgage and the bills.”
Are the fees worth it?
Griffin Vagana watched his son Jordyn excel at Hunter High School, culminating in a 5A boys volleyball state championship. The senior outside hitter finished his high school career as one of the best serving ace in the country.
It took years and a lot of money to master that skill.
Sitting in the raucous UCCU Center, Vagana broke out into a hearty laugh when he said it “sucks” to pay nearly $20,000 a year for his son, Jordyn, to play high school volleyball at the highest level. His son plays at Hunter High School in the Granite School District.
The district’s volleyball fee can be as much as $550, but Vagana said she pays just $250. Jordyn also plays baseball, which can cost up to $1,000, and Vagana said she pays between $160 and $200 for baseball.
(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake City Tribune) Ogden High School wins the 3A state soccer championship game, defeating Morgan High School, 1-0, on Oct. 23, 2021, at Rio Tinto Stadium.
The biggest expense is her son’s volleyball club, which costs $4,800 in club fees, plus another $350 per tournament, plus travel expenses.
But when asked if the sport is worth that much money, Vagana’s answer was a resounding “yes.”
“Keeping my Pacific Islander son busy, especially keeping him away from gangs and keeping him active, it’s a small price to pay to stay out of trouble,” said Vagana, a West Valley resident.
Sorenson’s thoughts are similar when it comes to kids who are athletic.
“I think our kids have found something they’re passionate about,” Sorenson said. “When you see your kid love something and they’re learning life lessons through sports, you want that and you see the value in that.”
Vogel’s family only recently learned about the fees for her granddaughter’s softball participation, but they don’t envision a world where the cost of participation keeps her from pursuing her passion.
“Given her talent, there’s no way my son would refuse to pay,” Vogel said.
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