Playing a sport can bring teammates together and provide lasting memories, both on and off the field, for any player. Those benefits do not cost anything, but playing a sport at LZHS is far from free.
In fact, LZHS has the highest sports fee in the north and northwest suburban area. It costs $220 to play a sport at LZHS and there is a family cap of $1,000 a year for families with multiple athletes. Also, the family cap does not include club sports, such as hockey or lacrosse, which already cost over $220 to play, because none of the expenses are paid by the school’s budget.
“[LZHS fees are] pretty high. We’re the highest in Lake County. I know when I first got here in ’06-’07, it was $165. Then, we went through those massive budget cuts four years ago, where they were proposing to cut golf, bowling, and other B sports. One of the ways they said they’d be able to keep them would be to raise the price of our sports,” Rolly Vazquez, athletic director, said.
Raising the fee to $220 is what made LZHS have a higher sports fee than any other school LZHS competes with.
“I was told we were raising the price to $220 and I was like ‘really?’ My worries were that there would probably be fewer kids participating [in sports] as there were when it was $165. And then the economy hit a couple years ago, which also hit our numbers a little bit. We were really worried about kids and our numbers decreasing after that raise in the price,” Vazquez said.
Sue Tuckey, a mother of two athletes, agrees that the high sports fees can affect athletes and their families.
“For people who have trouble affording sports, [having an expensive fee] makes it difficult for the family. [Lowering prices] would definitely benefit families. It would be easier on parents who are supporting and encouraging their kids,” Tuckey said.
However, the numbers of athletes did not decrease significantly as a result of the fee increase. Many students are still playing sports despite the high costs. According to Maggie Tuckey, sophomore cross country runner and soccer player, students do not feel as affected by the high costs because they do not know how expensive the sports fees are compared to other schools.
“I didn’t know the sports fees were so high. I think it’s unreasonable. You do have to pay for some expenses, such as equipment, but now that I know that some schools are free [to play a sport], I think $220 is a lot of money,” Maggie Tuckey said.
According to Vicky Cullinan, assistant superintendent of business and operations, there are many expenses the sport fees pay for.
“There are many costs associated with having an athletic program, including items such as uniforms, travel to away games and state tournaments, entry fees, equipment, safety inspections, referees, field and floor maintenance, and coach stipends. The fees are used to offset a portion of the cost of running these programs,” Cullinan said.
Although the fees are used to offset those costs, Tuckey’s mom feels that $220 is costly for a sports fee. She also believes the family cap is too expensive.
“I think the [family] cap is really high. My children play a total of four sports, and we do not even reach the cap. Five hundred dollars seems like it would be a nice cap for a family,” Sue Tuckey said.
Despite the expensive sport fees, Maggie Tuckey is still playing two sports. According to Vazquez, a majority of the parents and students think sports are a vital part of high school.
“We’ve always had over 50 percent of our student population participating in sports. That’s a heck of a number to get kids to participate in activities and athletics. You don’t find that too often,” Vazquez said. “Our community, our parents, and our kids really cherish, appreciate, and understand that athletics and all of our extracurricular activities and clubs that we have here at the school are an extension of our learning. There’s more that’s needed on top of that classroom education. I think that’s important. It’s good seeing kids involved, it really is.”