There has been a great deal of discussion concerning Funding formulas for high school Provincial Championships. Opinions have ranged from increasing Zone (membership fees) to having an entry for each Championship. There are pros and cons to both. Some schools that rarely advance to a Championship, have said that they should not be facing increased fees, when they never or seldom make it to provincials. Others have said that by charging entry fees, we are penalizing those schools that qualify by levying an additional fee on them.
Another approach can be a team fee- say $30.00 per team for every team that a school has. That is a minimal cost on a per team basis, but could add up for a school that has a large number of teams. Most Provinces do charge entry fees for Provincials, and the cost takes into consideration the operating costs, including a banquet, refs costs , awards etc
Following is the cost for one Volleyball Championship in another Province
Entry Fee (Per Team) $400
Banquet Fee (Per Individual) $25
Provincial Participant Fee (Per Student-Athlete) $2
We are used to paying entry fees and membership fees to community based sports, and we have always tried to ensure that school sport is affordable to all and within reason, however times are changing.
I welcome your thoughts….
I think we need to clarify the financial sources for paying entry fees and so on. Teams pay anywhere from $150-$200 per tournament they attend. A highly competitive program may attend between 4 to 7 tournaments in a season. Most schools have the players pay for these tournaments they attend through player registration fees or through fundraisers. It is not the school itself which pays the entry fees for these tournaments. This is because most schools only have budgets for divisional or league play. Invitational tournaments are usually not covered by the school.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, Provincials are also a tournament where costs are much higher. This because it is a bigger event. It also needs to remain a more prestigious and well run event. Kids work diligently all season to make it to the big show. Arguably, those who work the hardest are typically those who end up at the Provincials. Personally, I would support a participation fee in the $200-$400 range, and that fee should be billed directly to the school or school division, not to the players who have worked hard and earned the right to be there. They have paid enough at that point. The kids should be rewarded for their hard work and the great P.R. they are bringing to the school or school division, not charged for their efforts.
Charging an entry fee for Provincial Championships is long overdue. MHSAA do not have to concern themselves where the fee comes from - any of these( schools, divisions, athletes ) may be responsible for paying the fee but that is no different than a regular tournament. The biggest concern is the financial responsibility of a host school. It is more and more difficult to ask communities to support these events with financial support. By charging the entry fee the host school is able jump right into planning the event without spending countless hours and worry about fundraising. Suggestions are made that there doesn't need to be a banquet, etc. but after hosting many provincials and seeing the rewards of a well run championship, limiting the host committee on what they want to do is not fair. Teams qualifying for provincials should be expected to pay an entry fee - where that comes from is totally up to the people managing that team.
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