Practice has only been held for fall sports teams around the county for over a week, and already the effect of new pay-to-play policies seems to be having an effect. Kosmo has been hearing that plenty of coaches, especially football coaches, are noticing that numbers are down significantly this year in terms of players coming out for the team.
Kosmo knows there could be other factors involved, but he thinks the biggest one is pay-to-play. With budgets tightening around the state, many districts had to raise pay-to-pay prices. Rochester, for example, had to more than double theirs to over $400 for one sport. Given that, it's hard to blame families or kids for not trying out for sports teams, especially ones that don't know for sure if they'll get a roster spot or playing time.
It's a sad sight in general, but especially sad knowing that the season hasn't even started and pay-to-play seems to be rearing its ugly head for teams around the county and state.