AHS Girls Basketball should receive more funding

By Morgan M.

As many may know basketball season has just begun and many people believe that Boys basketball should receive more funding than the girls . However , I believe that the girls should receive more funding for many reasons . 

The first reason why girls should receive more funding is because the girls team is way better than the boys team . According to Maxprep.com ,during the season of 24-25 our record was 15-11 and the boys record was 5-20 . This shows how the girls team is way better than the boys . For the last few years we have won over 9 or more games for the season and the boys haven't made it past at least 5 . 

At AHS girls basketball has had a more growing population . During my years of attending this school there have been plenty of girls trying out for the basketball team . According to the AHS winter sports page tryouts were on November 3rd and 4th and the girls team is looking amazing. A lot of girls tried out and now we have a successful team because we have more girls interested than ever before. Because of the higher interest in the sport, we should have higher funding to match the interest and participation levels.  If we had 10 girls on the team last year and a $1,000 budget, hypothetically, last year, and this year we have 20 girls, it only makes sense that our budget goes up as well.  According to Snapraise.com for every player it costs $150 - $250 per person . For a 12 player team it cost about  $1,800 - $3,000 .

A third reason that the girls need to receive more funding is because the girls team travels more than the boys , we have traveled to places like Rockhill , Sumter , Batesburg etc . I feel like more money is necessary because we have to eat before leaving the school's campus when we travel for games, and just the amount of time and money it takes to get to these places is crazy .  

Some people may say girls basketball isn't as important as boys basketball because boys are more competitive , have faster movement , and are more interesting so they deserve more funding and equipment . In my opinion boys may be all of those things but girls are more responsible, they take care of things better and understand how much things cost, but the boys don't care . According to BestColleges.com girls get looked at more in colleges than boys as well. Take the Carolina Women’s Basketball program, for example; they are far more popular than the boys. According to this website, “According to ESPN and Nielsen, the matchup between Iowa and South Carolina drew more than 18.9 million viewers on average….  The women’s championship peaked at 24 million viewers, and is an 89 percent increase from 2023 – plus a 285 percent increase from 2022. It’s also the most-watched basketball game – collegiate or professional, men's or women's – since 2019.”  In short, girls is way more popular than boys and should be funded more accordingly. 

Looking to hear what other people at AHS have to say , I interviewed Lashonda R ., a student here and a player of the basketball team and she explained, “ I feel that it is necessary for the girls basketball team to have funding because buying items out of your own hand can be hard for people especially with the times we are going through at this moment. You also never know if somebody can afford the items that they need to participate in basketball so it helps out a lot for people financially.“ Her comment  supports  that the girls deserve more funding. 

I also interviewed Ms. Amick., the math teacher and also the girls basketball coach explained, “ I would say that girls basketball does deserve more funding from the district office. Until the last few years girls and boys basketball received funding from the district office. But they decided since basketball is a money making gate sport that we do not need funding. I do not think they take into consideration the amount of spectators at girls games or the kids that are typically playing the sport. Basketball is not a sport that is predominantly played by students from a high social economic background; more funding would provide coaches with the ability to help cover costs that some of their athletes may not be able to afford. “

In conclusion, the girls basketball team should receive more funding , we should be provided with way more money than we receive because we are a hardworking , caring , responsible team . If Teachers , Students , and the community think that the girls should receive more money they should also recommend it.  One way we could get more funding is if we sell more tickets to our games. Our next few games are here at AHS come support !