Imagine if your child could not pursue their sport because you did not have the money to send them to that program. Well, that is what’s happening to lower-income families at 6 times the rate of higher-income families. Kids should have programs that support them in pursuing their sport because they should not be limited by how much money their parents have or what their economic status is, but by how good they are at that sport. This cause matters because kids across the country cannot pursue their dreams, and this could make them sad, and no one wants sad kids. For these reasons, professional athletes, team owners, and schools should raise and donate funds to create more opportunities for youth athletics.
The price of playing sports is too high for some families. I found from the New York Times that kids and teens can’t play their sports because they are too expensive. Kids’ sports can sometimes cost 10,000 to 30,000 dollars a season for mid-tier travel teams. “As a result, kids from 6-18 in low-income families quit at a higher rate than kids in higher-income families,” said Project Play. Low-income kids need sports because they can help with their relationships, emotions, and mental health. This means the cost of sports affects many families in lower-income areas that have kids who want to play a sport.
A workable solution is that pro sports players and sports owners should donate money to a kids’ sports scholarship program. This makes sense because pro sports players are passionate about their sport, and they probably want to go against the best, and the best is not always in the wealthy. I know this can work because it is already happening, but not happening a lot. Both of my donors (the NFL foundation and Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang) donate less than 2 times a year, and one was a one-time thing. One example of this is the NFL Foundation website, which says, “The NFL Foundation which has a program that gives a grant to non profit organizations or school and youth football organizations.” ESPN reported another incident when Washington Spirits owner, Michele Kang, donated 30 million dollars to girls’ and women’s sports programs. I know that they can afford it because, according to Diario AS, the lowest-paid players in the NFL make 840,000 for a rookie salary.
Another workable solution is that schools could offer more sports because they have a lot of money to use for this. According to Ed Week, “ In the Fairfax County public schools in Virginia, for instance, the district has started track and cross country teams in its middle schools with a $600,000 investment. The goal of the investment is as much about promoting mental health as it is physical health, the district’s superintendent, Michelle Reid, told The Washington Post. Nearly 2,000 students participated in the district’s first cross-country meet this fall.” This means y that they have the money to do it and the support. This is a workable solution because they have the funding to do it, and they have the kids’ interests. I know, a lot of kids want to represent their school because there are 30 people on my track team for middle school.
To sum it up, kids have to suffer because of their economic status. This happens because their parents are not able to pay for their sports. I care because of the kids who can’t get into good programs that could help their careers because of the amount of money it costs. I hope you can help with this because small amounts still help the kids, and if everybody donates, it could be thousands of dollars raised and hundreds of kids get to pursue their dreams. And best of all, you know that you helped a kid pursue their dream.
Donate to: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/neighborhood-community-services/athletics/youth-scholarship
