Money in High School Sports

​Ivan Avalos 
Journalist

​Money runs much of the world. Whether it's professional sports or the stock market. May this also be the case for high school sports?

"Here in the city of Norwalk, sports have half of the budget of what surrounding community's have." Stated Brien McMahon Athletic Director Joe Madaffari. "We [Brien McMahon] have a budget of $555,000 , they [other schools] have a budget of 1.2 million dollars" he continued.

With this moneyeams like Darien are able to afford better equipment and fields to train with. This allows students to practice and train with more quality which helps them develop their skills ultimately leading to wins

"They [other schools] get everything they want given to them. Jerseys and helmets. We have to work hard for everything we want " commented Dylan Finn ('16) 

Another important part of why money may affect high schools sports is because if parents have more money, they can afford to place their kids on better sports team.

“Parents that have soccer players as kids can afford to pay for their kids to play on any premier team as their children were many parents here in Norwalk can’t” commented Madaffari.

Premier (an out of school league)  draws the top soccer players from different towns, and can cost as much as $2,000 dollars for one season.

"It feels intimidating seeing other teams squads and realizing that all their players have or are playing premier and then I look at our team and see that only 5-6 teammates have played on a premier team" said Dolny Derogene ('16) 

If kids play premier they are more likely to become a better player, so when it becomes time for high school sports to come around they are more skillful plus have more experience than other kids.

“Other schools have sports like rowing that are more expensive” said Madaffari. "Sports like rowing are more expensive to keep so the town they live in give them more of a budget for them to work with."

In sports money plays a big deal. In professional sports, more money often equates to a better team. It can be argued that more money equates to a better team in high school sports as well. 

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