Almost all of Big Sky High School’s athletics have a white fee to participate in a sport.
A white fee can cost anywhere from around $30 to $125, or $0 for track. According to the Big Sky school website, “the white fee goes towards the cost of team gear. This is usually clothing with the school name, logo and sport on it for athletes to wear.”
The website also says coaches have to decide what to charge for white fees, balancing keeping their sport affordable for kids with making sure they have enough money for gear.
“From what I understand, anything you pay for will come directly back to you and you can take it home,” said Mr.Young.
Young went on to explain that there are two fees sports can have: a white fee and the participation fee. The participation fee is required for every sport to have. It can be $65 to $75 dollars, and goes into a MCPS district fund, Young said.
This can make sports with higher white fees cost up to a few hundred dollars.
There is also a reserve fund for sports filled with surplus money the MCPS district gets. This fund can be used for cases when something major breaks. Track can use this to fix equipment like “a long jump pit damaged in the storm,” Young said.
Softball has one of the higher white fees at Big Sky – $120 – and, according to head softball coach Trevor Subith, this fee helps the girls to get five t-shirts, a Nike jacket, a Nike sweatshirt, a batting helmet, a belt, and even socks. But their white fees don’t cover all of this, they also do what’s called “Griz cleanup” to help pay for gear.
When asked if he thinks the higher fees deter kids from signing up for softball, Subith said, “I don’t think in the softball world it does, but I think it could. I’ve never been told, but we also have the ability to offer scholarships and money for those kids.”
He went on to say, “If a kid were to come up to me and say I can’t play because of the fees, we have the funds and I would pay for them myself.”
While softball is a spring sport with a higher white fee, track and field is a spring sport that doesn’t have a white fee at all.
According to Big Sky’s head track and field coach, Dan Nile, students still get shirts to keep, even though they don’t have fees to pay. Nile explained that for the past few years, track and field has done a fundraiser with Vertical Raise, an online fundraising platform that clubs and sports teams can use. This helps cover equipment and gear costs.
“Track and field is an expensive sport,” said Nile, referring to the cost it is to the school.
Nile, who has been coaching at Big Sky for close to 40 years, noted that, if he could, he wouldn’t charge the participation fee either.
“I think it’s a great sport that as many kids as possible should try, there’s something for everybody,” Nile said. “I’m not a big fan of exclusive things.”
