Public School Sports: Pay to Play or a Level Playing Field?

Introduction

The idea of a level playing field is a central concept in all athletic competition. However, the cost of developing elite athletes may be influencing the chance of success for students. Public high school sports are designed to give everyone an equal opportunity to play and succeed. Money should not matter when athletes are simply playing for their school's team. Is that really the case, though? In US public schools, do the best athletes win, or can money buy success?

The Question: Are high school state champions located in zip codes with household incomes above the state average? Does this effect differ between girls’ and boys’ sports, or between football and basketball?

When the data are broken down by sport, the distribution is similar. In both basketball and football, most champion schools are close to the national household median income. However, football champion schools are located in zip codes with a median household income of $87,054. That is higher than the median household income of $83,383, found in boys' basketball champion zip codes. Football also has more outliers in the highest income bracket.

Football is generally a more expensive sport than basketball, and student-athletes rely more on their school for opportunities to play and improve. When comparing the effects of family income on the two sports, Head Coach Ben Startzer of Northfield’s football team said, “Sometimes it can just be the price of access. If you’re going to play football, let's just even say recreationally, tackle football is going to take some resources… that’s going to be a lot of money where maybe basketball is going to require a short set and a basketball.” This creates a barrier for poorer schools and families and may be why football state champions generally come from wealthier areas than boys’ basketball areas.

Boys vs. Girls’ Basketball

In our study, state champions in girls' basketball had the highest median household income of all three sports, at $88,700.75. Just like the other sports, the data for all girls' basketball champions are fairly normally distributed. 

Participation in girls’ basketball may be driving this trend. According to Ethan Fuller of the New England Basketball Journal, as of 2024, participation numbers for girls’ basketball have not shown the same recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic as other high school sports. With fewer players interested in playing, larger, often suburban schools benefit. They have more kids to choose from and more time to craft and hand-pick the best players. 

Gold Crown Foundation is a non-profit organization in Denver that offers after-school programming, basketball, volleyball and golf camps and tournaments. They focus on low-income support and affordability. Kevin Petty, their president and executive director, outlined how certain schools gain an advantage from this effect. “For example, a school in Highlands Ranch that has thousands of kids is able to hand-pick and groom the better players for a longer period of time, whereas in the more urban schools, where there are fewer kids participating, by the time [players] get to high school, [the schools] don’t have as many kids to pick from.” This effect is amplified when there are fewer total participants. Because there are more students across the country playing boys' basketball, more schools will have enough players to run competitive, successful programs.

Programs that Improve Access to Sports

In light of these national statistics, we examined programs that are working to address access to youth athletic training and opportunities here in Denver.

Denver Public Schools increased opportunity by creating the Prep League for middle schools, with support from the DPS Foundation. Starting in 1997, this league gave students access to organized teams and structured, official competition in the district at a younger age. Ashley Muramoto, the Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the DPS Foundation, said, “By offering access to high-quality programs in middle school, you can help close opportunity gaps before they get even wider. The sooner you do that, the better. That helps students achieve more in high school.”

Since 2023, the My Spark Denver program has aimed to improve access to after-school activities, including sports. This program gives eligible families a restricted card with $1,000 so middle school students can pursue interests outside the classroom. Like the Prep League, My Spark focuses on opportunities before high school. Muramoto said, “The goal of [My Spark] is to give students something to do during those middle school years after the school day ends, and it is a great way for them to stay involved.”

The Gold Crown Foundation is another organization working to provide young athletes with opportunities to participate in sports. Their non-profit status helps them keep fees low for all families, and their scholarship fund is available to families who would otherwise not be able to afford to play. Gold Crown is able to keep sports accessible and in reach for everyone. Kevin Petty said, “We try to work with families to meet them wherever their need is”.

Private organizations work to provide opportunities for athletes with financial challenges, while balancing the need to fund programs and facilities. Redline Denver East is a practice facility for youth athletes to train for basketball, volleyball and other sports. It was created by Aaron Bradford to provide serious and competitive training. Bradford uses the facility for the travel basketball team, The Bureau, that he runs with Mike Haynes. Running the facility and team requires parents to pay enough to keep the team going. At the same time, they don’t want to deny anyone access to their training because they cannot afford it. That is why Bradford created the Arctic Seagulls Foundation and works with other scholarships and programs, such as MySpark. Bradford said, “The first thing we do is we make it clear that we will help any kid that wants to train. We’ll find the money for them to train.”

Limitations

The focus only on state champions does not give a full picture of youth sports. It made it feasible to look at every state, but we didn’t examine participation numbers and successful teams that finished just below first place. Only examining the top division of each state means this data set does not include every successful team, and emphasizes the largest schools. Trends may be different in smaller divisions.

Conclusion

Student-athletes at public schools in zip codes across income brackets have an opportunity to be a champion. There were slightly more champions in wealthy zip codes, particularly in girls’ basketball and football, but every sport examined had champions from zip codes with a wide range of income. When sports are more accessible and have high participation, like boys’ basketball, the effect of household income on athletic success is mitigated. Public schools, as well as non-profit and private organizations, all have programs designed to continue the work towards a more level playing field.

References

Basketball Journal. 2024, Sept. 18. “Girls basketball participation is declining — let’s unpack the data.” New England Basketball Journal. https://www.basketballjournal.com/2024/09/18/girls-basketball-participation-is-declining-lets-unpack-the-data/

National Federation of State High School Associations. n.d. “High School Participation Survey Archive.” https://nfhs.org/resources/sports/high-school-participation-survey-archive

Guzman, Gloria, and Melissa Kollar. 2024. Income in the United States: 2023 (Report P60-282). U.S. Census Bureau. Table A-4a. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2024/demo/p60-282.html

U.S. Census Bureau. n.d. “Decile data from 2023 – Median income data.” https://data.census.gov/all?q=median+income