Is football free?

[ChiefSmoke]

Just got this question from a student, "Is free?" My answer, "In terms of money, yes. But, it costs you time, effort, & sweat. And, you must put everyone on the team ahead of yourself."

 

 

The same things that make great, make tough. Embrace that. Never apologize for it.

 

Thought the BGPreps crowd would appreciate it. 

 

Sometimes the posts on this site are a little over the top.  I can be the same. But, this crowd loves HS football and I appreciate that.  🙂

 

 

 

[TheDeuce]

Love that answer. 

My initial thought was "No, it's not free," but I wasn't even thinking about it from a money standpoint. 

[barrel]

That’s honestly a selling point we use. Past the physical there isn’t an out of pocket cost. We feed our kids and make sure they get some type of cloth. That’s not a big deal in some places and others that’s a very big deal. 
 

Some sports will say that they are free but players still end up having to purchase parts of the uniform for r other items. 

[Unrivaled97]

From a player standpoint, I agree.  Most times, it cost the player nothing other than effort, sacrifice, time, etc.  From a parent standpoint....it's far from free 🙂.  In addition to money, it also cost the parent effort, sacrifice, time, etc.  Unfortunately, a lot of parents don't realize that and / or aren't willing to do it.

[barrel]

7 hours ago, Unrivaled97 said:

From a player standpoint, I agree.  Most times, it cost the player nothing other than effort, sacrifice, time, etc.  From a parent standpoint....it's far from free 🙂.  In addition to money, it also cost the parent effort, sacrifice, time, etc.  Unfortunately, a lot of parents don't realize that and / or aren't willing to do it.

There are a number of places where there is very little parental involvement. In most cases coaches/programs are very thankful for the money, sacrifice, time, etc that parents put in. There are just a lot of places that is not the norm. If it wasn’t for coaches or teammates there would be a lot of players not playing due to lack of home support. 

[Unrivaled97]

1 hour ago, barrel said:

There are a number of places where there is very little parental involvement. In most cases coaches/programs are very thankful for the money, sacrifice, time, etc that parents put in. There are just a lot of places that is not the norm. If it wasn’t for coaches or teammates there would be a lot of players not playing due to lack of home support. 

Absolutely, I understand that 100%.  I coached at a school where we had a solid team one year; ranked #1 in class 4A (only 4 classes back then) in the final poll before playoffs.  You figure with a team like that the parental support would be great, but that wasn't the case.  There were so many kids whose parents didn't even show up on senior night that the coaches took multiple trips escorting kids out onto the field before the game.  It was sad.  Back to the point of is football free...I guess you're free to choose whether or not you're going to participate, but that's where the free part ends, monetarily or not.