St. Paul Academy and Summit School is lucky enough to be able to offer a myriad of sports to its students: football, hockey, trap shooting, downhill skiing, and many more. These sports require lots of time commitment, which most athletes are happy to put in. These sports also demand another more physical resource, though: money. Quite simply, it can be expensive to be an athlete. For example, skiing requires the athlete purchase a pair of skis and boots, which can easily run hundreds of dollars. To give another example, cleats for soccer are also required to be purchased by the athlete. For many families at SPA, these prices are an easy expenditure and a small sacrifice to have their child do the sport of their choosing. For some other families though, these equipment prices may be a big commitment or even a dissuading factor to have their child do a sport that they wanted to pursue.

It should become SPA’s responsibility to provide subsidization to the students that need it to help afford the right equipment. While the school already provides items like jerseys for soccer and masks for fencing, other sports have larger expenditures that aren’t covered by the school. Now, this is not to say that students would be able to buy things like $1,000 pairs of skis using the school’s money, but that students that are already receiving financial aid should be entitled to a basic set of sports equipment paid for by the school. School sports allow students to explore new interests, develop teamwork and leadership skills, and strengthen connections with friends outside of the classroom. Additionally, the sports that students partake in are set up by the school, so it would make sense that the school would be held responsible to assist students that need it. Sports are often vital parts of student’s transcripts as they apply to college, and no person should be denied the opportunity to do the sports they want if it hinders their college admission chances, especially at SPA. No student should be left out of a sports experience just because they can’t afford the equipment.

SPA is is extremely lucky to have such generous donors that grant millions of dollars to construct shiny new facilities to further students’ academic learning experiences. While this is fantastic, SPA should also feel responsible to put grants from alumni and philanthropists towards use buying sports equipment for students that need it. No SPA student should be turned away from an activity because they can’t afford it, especially in a school with the resources like SPA.