School Funding for Sports: Is it Fair?

As a student, teacher, or parent, you have probably been to at least one football or volleyball game. Am I right? Sports such as football, volleyball, and basketball have had the most spectators here at Pitman High school. I am positive it’s the same way at other schools. There is a clear reason as to why those sports get the most funding: more spectators. The more people there are, the more money the school will make, the more funding the school will provide for that sport. But what about the other sports?

Sports such as tennis  rarely have any observers. Sports like these are often looked at as boring and unreasonable.  Most high school students will constantly argue that tennis isn’t even a “real” sport. They may believe that these sports aren’t real because they don’t need much “talent”, but these sports are played all around the world. The effect that a typical high school student’s view on tennis typically correlates with the funds we get. People don’t come and observe, in return they  make no money, and that leads to them receiving little to no funding.  

So I asked a senior tennis player Jasmeet Manesh about the effect that these views have had on her and the team.

• What are your thoughts on school funding for sports?

“ I don’t think it’s fair. As a tennis player, seeing all the money going to sports like basketball and football makes me very upset. I understand why it’s going to those sports but all sports should be 

given at least something to get them going”

• How do you think this has affected you and your team?

“It has affected us a lot. We have had to go out of our way to get things done. We needed uniforms and more tennis balls. We had to have a family donate the uniforms because we didn’t have enough funds. We still don’t have enough balls, and not having them leads to inefficient practices. We don’t get stuff as fast as other sports do. Other sports wait at most a couple of months for stuff, we have to wait years.’’

Sports like tennis are often looked down upon and aren’t helped.  Just because tennis doesn’t bring in much revenue, doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t receive help. The girls on the team have made countless efforts to fundraise. Family’s donated uniforms and the team held fundraisers at local restaurants . They have had to go above and beyond to try and fund their sport. Why is it that they need to fundraise so much, whilst others don’t have to bring in a penny?

Sports that aren’t cared about enough need funding. The tennis courts finally got windscreens after years and years of waiting. With a little bit of help from their school, the team could spend all the time they spend on funding, on practicing and improving their skill level instead.. The coaches, players, and parents won’t have to stress about money issues if they were taken care of. Having funding from the school could provide numerous opportunities for some players. They won’t have to pay so much for uniforms, grips and other necessities. It could finally put them on the leaderboard and provide a sense of importance for them.

This has an effect on the players mental health as well. They might be working as hard as they can, but they might not feel important because of the way their sport is viewed. Some students might also pursue “popular” things because that’s where the money and importance is.  We teach the players and future players to not do what they love because it’s considered unimportant. At a school we should be encouraging someone to pursue their passion, not shying them away from it. What example does this set for the next generation, and then the next?