Participation Fee Numbers Hold Steady
June 27, 2012
Although the use of participation fees to help fund interscholastic athletics in Michigan high schools has doubled during the last nine years, the percentage of schools assessing them has held steady over the last two, according to surveys taken by the Michigan High School Athletic Association of its member institutions.
The most recently completed survey indicates that of 514 member schools participating, 260 schools – 50.5 percent – charged participation fees during the 2011-12 school year. In the 2010-11 survey, fees were being used at 50.4 percent of schools participating.
There were 763 senior high schools in the MHSAA membership this school year – the survey generated a response rate of 68 percent. This was the ninth survey of schools since the 2003-04, when members reported that fees were being used in 24 percent of schools.
The most recent survey also showed that fees incurred by students who paid once for an entire year of participation increased slightly from 2010-11 to 2011-12 – although the maximum fee per family decreased slightly.
The most popular method of assessing participation fees continues to be a payment for each sport an athlete goes out for, used by 41.5 percent of schools in 2011-12. That median fee among schools in the survey has increased only $5, to $75, since 2009-10.
A standardized annual fee per student was used by 24.5 percent of schools in the past year. Since Fall 2003, that fee has increased from $75 to $120 – a 60 percent increase – with the fee increasing $20 per athlete from 2010-11 to 2011-12.
Beginning with the 2004-05 survey, schools were asked in the survey if they had a cap on what individual student-athletes and families could be charged. Caps on student fees have been used by the majority of schools, but that number has dropped from 71.3 percent in 2004-05 to 55 percent in 2011-12. However, the number of schools instituting a cap on what a family pays has increased from 41 percent having a limit in 2004-05 to 49 percent in 2011-12.
Other data from the 2011-12 survey shows 64.5 percent of schools with participation fees have some kind of fee reduction or waiver program in place based on existing programs for subsidized lunch and milk (down from 68 percent in 2010-11); that 14 percent of schools using fees report a drop in participation; and that slightly more than one percent of schools report losing students to other school districts because they are charging fees. Five percent of schools not assessing fees in 2011-12 report transfers to their districts because of the absence of fees. Also, seven percent of schools not assessing fees had done so previously.
The survey for 2011-12 and surveys from previous years can be found on the MHSAA Website by clicking on Schools – Administrators – Pay-To-Play Resources.
Participation Stays Above Enrollment Dip
July 13, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Enrollment in Michigan High School Athletic Association member high schools continued a trend of slight declines in 2016-17, but participation in sports held firm as records were set in three of the 28 sports for which postseason tournaments are sponsored by the MHSAA.
A total of 283,625 participants competed in MHSAA-sponsored sports this past school year, down 0.21 percent from 2015-16. However, this year’s decrease falls in line with a decrease in enrollment at member schools of 0.40 percent. The overall MHSAA participation totals count students once for each sport in which they participate, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.
Despite a drop in girls enrollment of 0.60 percent in 2016-17, girls participation increased for the second straight school year to 119,937 participants, an increase of 0.55 percent. Boys overall participation fell 0.76 percent to 163,688 participants, slightly sharper than the drop in boys enrollment of 0.21 percent for the school year. However, eight girls sports and eight boys sports saw increases in participation in 2016-17.
Boys and girls lacrosse continued their record-setting climb, boys lacrosse with 5,114 participants to increase 3.3 percent from 2015-16 and break its record set in 2013-14. Girls lacrosse saw 2,814 participants, an increase of 1.4 percent from the previous year, to continue its streak of setting a participation record every season since becoming a sponsored tournament sport in 2005. Boys cross country also set a record for the second straight season, this time with an increase of 1.7 percent to 9,415 participants total.
Good news also came from girls basketball, which ended a string of 10 straight declines in participation with an increase of 2.2 percent in 2016-17 – those 15,896 participants were the most in the sport since 2013-14. The largest percentage increases by far in 2016-17 were seen in boys and girls skiing, which were up 16.4 and 14.4 percent, respectively, with 837 boys participants and 746 girls after both experienced decreases in participation the school year before.
A number of other sports also saw increases on both the boys and girls’ sides: swimming & diving saw a 5.2 percent increase for boys and 4.1 increase for girls, track & field saw a 2.4 percent increase for girls and 1.9 percent increase for boys, girls cross country joined its boys counterpart with a 1.0 percent increase in participation, and tennis saw a 2.8 percent increase for girls and 0.48 increase for boys. That boys tennis increase ended a string of seven straight years of declining participation.
Other sports to see increases in 2016-17 were girls golf, increasing for the second straight season, this time 2.9 percent to 3,561 participants; boys ice hockey, up 1.8 percent to 3,411 participants; and boys soccer up 0.38 percent to 14,630 participants.
Also of note in this year’s survey:
• The increase in participation for 16 sports during 2016-17 was compared to an increase in 15 sports for 2015-16 and only eight sports in 2014-15.
• After a significant slowing in participation decline in football over the previous three years, 2016-17 saw a decline of 4.6 percent, or 1,805 participants from 2015-16. The number of school-sponsored football programs remained consistent over the last two years – there were 642 in 2015-16 and 640 in 2016-17 (up from 630 in 2014-15). But there was a shift of programs from 11-player to 8-player; there were 15 fewer 11-player programs in 2016-17 than the year before, but 13 more 8-player programs.
• Of the 12 MHSAA sports that saw participation declines in 2016-17, three were by mere hundredths of a percent. Boys wrestling saw a decline of three participants total, girls gymnastics had two fewer participants and boys golf participation decreased by one person.
The participation figures are gathered annually from MHSAA member schools to submit to the National Federation of State High School Associations for compiling of its national participation survey. Results of Michigan surveys from the 2000-01 school year to present may be viewed by clicking here.
The following chart shows participation figures for the 2016-17 school year from MHSAA member schools for sports in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament:
|
BOYS |
GIRLS |
|||
SPORT |
SCHOOLS (A) |
PARTICIPANTS |
SCHOOLS (A) |
PARTICIPANTS (B) |
|
Baseball |
635/656/6 |
17,989 |
- |
0/9 |
|
Basketball |
722/735/1 |
21,263 |
690/725 |
15,896/4 |
|
Bowling |
363/381/10 |
3,792 |
341/369 |
2,926/24 |
|
Competitive Cheer |
- |
- |
334/349 |
6,720 |
|
Cross Country |
618/649/0 |
9,415 |
609/646 |
8,489 |
|
Football - 11 player |
580/592/87 |
36,460 |
- |
0/111 |
|
- 8-player |
60/61/11 |
1,130 |
- |
14 |
|
Golf |
496/526/59 |
6,170 |
329/342 |
3,561/100 |
|
Gymnastics |
- |
- |
72/88 |
636 |
|
Ice Hockey |
233/257/14 |
3,397 |
|
0/14 |
|
Lacrosse |
147/153/3 |
5,110 |
107/107 |
2,814/4 |
|
Skiing |
92/102/3 |
830 |
89/103 |
746/7 |
|
Soccer |
481/499/23 |
14,541 |
459/483 |
13,212/89 |
|
Softball |
- |
- |
616/646 |
13,641 |
|
Swimming & Diving |
243/274/12 |
4,919 |
256/283 |
5,600/60 |
|
Tennis |
293/309/9 |
6,085 |
327/341 |
8,920/21 |
|
Track & Field |
655/683/0 |
23,232 |
648/681 |
17,009/0 |
|
Volleyball |
- |
- |
704/720 |
19,067 |
|
Wrestling |
459/483/159 |
9,355 |
- |
0/2 |
(A) The first number is the number of schools reporting sponsorship on the Sports Participation Survey. The second number indicates schools sponsoring the sport including primary and secondary schools in cooperative programs as of May 22, 2017. The third number indicates the number of schools that had girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys.
(B) The second number indicates the number of additional g