As the varsity boys’ football team, clad in crisp new uniforms, glances up, they take in the bleachers and the snack bar, bustling with spectators. The next morning, the girls’ wrestling team steps onto the mat, wearing uniforms not quite fitted right, a dwindling audience in their peripheral vision. Over half of KHS students, particularly athletes, believe certain sports, like football, are given better treatment and more funding, whereas less popular sports and girls’ teams receive fewer resources.
EJ Bradfield, sophomore and wide receiver on the JV football team, thinks more funding is put towards the football team because it is one of the most popular sports in high school. He said that while the number of players on some teams may be similar, there are ultimately more people coming to the football games and giving the school business by either paying for tickets or ordering food at the snack bar.
“Sometimes I think [football] gets better treatment just because everyone goes to the games and people care about it,” Bradfield said. “I think they put more time into helping the team and players improve.”
Carolyn Vandagriff, sophomore and member of the girls’ varsity wrestling team, said she noticed how the boys and girls teams are treated differently throughout her two years on the team. Though both of them are varsity level, Vandagriff said there is a contrast between their uniform options.
“The boys get two singlets and one set of warm ups, whereas the girls only get one of each, and the girls’ warm ups actually look exactly the same as the JV boys’,” Vandagriff said. “When it comes to practice or competition clothes, usually the boys get more choices than the girls.”
However, Vandagriff said she recognizes the difference between the number of girls and boys who play certain sports like football, with a combined roster of JV and varsity at 83 players, and wrestling, with seven people on the girls’ team. Vandagriff sees how that has an impact on the decisions that go into funding, but she would like more of an effort put towards equality.
“I don’t think that [the inequality] is on purpose, because when it comes to certain sports like lacrosse or soccer, there are more boys players than girls players, but I think that making sure the teams are getting equal funding is important,” Vandagriff said. “I’m a [varsity] girls’ wrestler, I should still be getting the same funding as another varsity boys’ wrestler.”
Willie Parks, varsity football and track coach, said certain sports funds are tailored to their equipment needs. He said while it may seem like more popular sports are getting better treatment, it really comes down to the gear that they require.
“Track has a lot of equipment, like pole vaults and hurdles, and football has shoulder pads and helmets, whereas cross country only has uniforms,” Parks said. “There’s no other materials or resources that certain sports need, so I would say [it’s funding] gets divided up depending on how much those cost.”
Corey Nesslage, Athletic Director, said each sport is so different that to compare them is to create an inaccurate conclusion about the reality of what is actually happening with funding. He said especially with football, equipment prices are skewed up and vary from sport to sport.
“With football, we have about 100 to 110 kids involved, making it our biggest program, and we have to outfit those kids each with equipment that costs anywhere from $700-$900,” Nesslage said. “As soon as you compare football to any other sport, it’s not balanced, but one hundred percent it’s equitable.”
Nesslage said he is given an annual operational budget of about $70,000 from the school district, and while this may seem like a lot, he usually is around $30,000 short by January. So, the revenue made from the gate fees at football and basketball games is where the money is made up. Ultimately, Nesslage said that he tries to make the best of what he’s given and distributes money based on what each team, no matter their popularity or gender make-up, needs.
“I can’t speak for all 25 of our coaches, but in my 13 years here, I think I can count on one hand how many times someone has asked me for something and I’ve said no,” Nesslage said. “And let’s not forget that we just got done with a $4.1 million project, and out of the six sports that were benefitted, four were female teams.”
