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The Rising Costs of Raising an Athlete

IN DEEP WATER: Carly Marshall, varsity swimmer and sophomore, practices her breaststroke during practice. She said that while she loves to swim, the sport can sometimes be very costly, be it the fast suits, swim gear or team costs that are required of all the swimmers. KATE GRUMME / PHOTO

By Maggie Brandenburg
<[email protected]>

Say you were to sift through varsity swimmer Carly Marshall’s athletic locker. You would probably find a towel “that hasn’t been washed for at least two weeks,” a practice swim suit, a swim cap, goggles, dry land clothes and a pair of tennis shoes. And with the exception of the swimming cap, Marshall, a sophomore, and her family paid for all of the items, including another swim suit for meets.

Marshall said, “The things that (my parents) pay for, they understand are needed for the sport.”

Swimming is a sport that requires ultimate dedication from its athletes, from club and school dues to the large amounts of time put in by both the swimmers and their parents. The women’s team meets six out of seven days

including morning practices during the school week, and that dedication has been a large part of the team’s success over the years. However, as swimmers advance in both high school and private club settings, a new factor has begun to play a role in performance that stretches a swimmer’s dedication even further: fast suits or full body swimsuits which can begin to put a financial strain on families.

Marshall said, “There’re fast suits for more competitive meets and those can be more than $100, $200 even. We used to have sponsors, but now we don’t, so we try to go through the least amount of suits as possible by taking care of them, trying not to rip them, cleaning them and such.”

While fast suits are just an option for more competitive meets, the average swimmer still must cover the cost of the team swimsuits, goggles and other equipment in the face of a tough economic situation, leaving families like the Marshalls trying to cut costs for equipment.

“I know she has (borrowed fast suits), because I was reluctant to spend the money,” Barb Marshall, Carly’s mother, said.

According to Athletics Director Jim Inskeep, athletic costs at this school range from about $100 up to $1,000 for the cheerleaders on teams who travel. He said those costs cover a practice package for the athlete including a practice outfit and other items depending on the sport.

“First of all, there is looking at just the high school costs, and when I say, ‘just the high school costs,’ I mean that in the sense of what a check that is written to Carmel High School by a student-athlete and their parents participating in a team (goes toward),” Inskeep said. “Any item that is consumable, meaning something that the athlete keeps at the end of the year, so it is not inventory, ended up being purchased by the student-athlete and their parents.”

For a swimmer, Carly said it might cost about $100 and those costs would include a team swimsuit and other items such as T-shirts and sweatshirts, while the school covers the costs of the swimming caps. But unlike many other high school sports, swimmers must purchase their own uniforms each year.

However, according to Inskeep, those are just the high school costs of the sport, and for athletes who compete year round, like Carly, their sports begin to cost much more.

Carly said, “I try to make sure that my mom doesn’t have to buy that many (fast suits), I’ve only bought one since we haven’t had a sponsor. I try to be careful.”

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