Evanston prides itself on the opportunities and resources it provides to its athletes, from open gym times to the availability of Lazier,. However, there is room for improvement. Evanston athletes involved in inequitable sports face challenges on top of the everyday struggles athletes already face.
“The cost of hockey is worrying… If you break a $300 stick on the ice, it’s in the back of your mind. You feel bad and become cautious, trying not to break anything,” said senior hockey player Kingston Scrim.
In sports like hockey, golf and figure skating, breaking equipment is no small tax, and neither is purchasing gear in the first place.
“There’s a lot of things that go into competing. You need to buy a dress, have someone cut your music and pay competition fees,” said senior figure skater Rachel Durango. “As you get better, you need higher equipment, and that’s more expensive.”
The expenses of these sports show in the bank, but they also reflect in the success rate of athletes. As a soccer player, I get the privilege of playing whenever I feel like it, whether that be at turf fields, a park or in my basement. Many sports don’t have this privilege. Golf players need a tee time, which can be hard to get and hard to pay for as a teenager. Athletes in ice sports may struggle with accessibility and expense of ice time.
“It’s harder to practice and get better because you can’t just play hockey whenever you want. If you can’t pay for ice time, you can’t really get better,” said Scrim.
With the struggle to practice these sports, many athletes give up on the sport they love. Senior Sammy Shuneman, a cross country and track athlete at ETHS, quit figure skating while she was in sixth grade despite the enjoyment the sport brought her.
“The cost is one of the reasons I quit. Skating took up almost all of my time. You have to pay for private ice time, coaches, skates, competitions and other stuff like that. I was super young and it was too expensive for what I was getting out of it. My mom asked me, ‘Do you want to learn how to do an axle or get a college education?’” said Shuneman.
As teams like hockey, golf and figure skating thin out due to cost, the remaining few tend to be predominantly white. The lack of diversity on these teams is another weakness of inequitable sports. Teams miss out on great athletes due to the high costs of the sport.
“We’re a much less diverse team than maybe other sports because the price limits our diversity,” said Scrim.
Inequitable sports make athletes carry burdens, struggle to succeed and restrict diversity. Efforts to tackle inequality in Evanston sports are a constant taken on by Athletic Director Chris Livatino. Through his attempts, the Kumba Evanston Olympic Games were created. This sporting event allows 5th and 6th graders to try out 17 different sports and be exposed to sports they might not otherwise experience, all for free.
“I think the biggest thing is just getting the message out to our kids and our families to know they should still come out even with a lack of equipment or resources,” said Livatino.
The struggles that athletes in Evanston face when they are part of an inequitable sport are something the athletic program wants to change for future Wildkits. With the help of organizations and events like the Olympic Games, young athletes can find their passions without the worry of cost.
