Letter to the Editor for Nov. 16, 2010

Parent says enough is enough

When does it ever end? I suppose if you are a sports fan in Camas, it doesn’t.

I just need a moment to vent. I’m racking my brain to find an answer to a puzzling question. Why am I charged $5 every time I walk through the gate to watch my child play a game at Doc Harris Stadium?

Well, as angry as I was, my wife and I decided to pay for a “fall season ticket,” which ended up being more than if we’d paid at each of the home events we attended. Now that the regular season is over for both football and girls soccer, the ante goes up to $8 a game and our season ticket no longer covers the cost of admission.

I’m sure many would tell me that it takes a lot of money to run an athletic department, and I understand this, but is my ticket price paying for the larger than life-sized pictures of our football players and the enormous inflatable Papermaker that they run through at the beginning of a game? I can assure you that my football enjoying experience would not be diminished without these expensive ornaments.

Doesn’t the overpriced food at the concessions stand play a huge role in financing the frivolous spending? Why can’t part of the quarter of a billion dollars in levies and bonds passed in the last dozen years allow for free admission to watch our kids play a game?

My daughter came home from school the other day and mentioned that they are really pushed to come out and “support the team.” I think that’s great; I didn’t miss a game as a kid, yet even our students are gouged at the gate. With an ASB card (paid for), the high school students do not have to pay to enter, unless it’s a playoff game at which time they are treated no differently than the rest of us. There are never any breaks for the younger students in the district either. Come on man, for real, the students themselves have to pay to cheer on their peers. This isn’t right.

We were at a mid-season game, and overheard a visiting player’s parent just aghast upon learning that they had to pay to watch their child’s game. My wife and I were so embarrassed to be part of this.

In this new day and age, some walk around with little or no cash in their pockets. I could imagine being absolutely furious after making the trip only to find that I could not get in to watch my child play.

My family of four would like to go to both the girls soccer playoff game and the football playoff game, but I’m just not willing to put $64 into the pot, so I guess we will choose one, and absorb the $32 cost. Oh, and we will bring our own snacks, and hope not to be frisked at the gate.

I will finish this tirade by saying that I am very proud to be a citizen of Camas, and to have children in the highly touted school district. We chose Camas because of the commitment to education, and our daughters are doing very well. But enough is enough. I’m tired of opening my wallet every time I step onto school property. I just feel that the dollar signs in the eyes of our administrators has gone on long enough.

Todd Norrish, Camas