There are different sports every trimester at Granada, all of which demand gear whether it’s a jersey, ball, helmet, and way more. So with so much gear needed for players, it will cost a lot of money to get all the gear, even for just one person. Some athletes have to buy their own, or donate just to keep their sport up and running on schedule for all their games and tournaments, which also cost money. Teams also need to pay referees because they do not just do it for free. With all sports being funded only by the athletes, their families, coaches, and occasionally an outside source, additional funding would make a huge change for all the sports Granada has to offer. 

For some sports, such as water polo, there is an account for the sport that holds funds for only the designated sport. This account is made for, in the case of water polo: buying balls, nets, tournament fees, referees, and more. So with so much expense, they rely on fundraisers to raise money for these expenses. Fundraisers come in the form of two ways for water polo, and that is either just directly asking for donations, or making merchandise for the sport. A lot of merchandise is sold, but some of the profit is gone due to paying the company manufacturing said merchandise, but also the fact that most of the options revolve around the sport it is funding, making it less appealing to students or athletes who do not play the sport. Directly asking for funds pays a lot better, as players with extra money can help fund the team. With so much money to raise, players are asked for them and their families to donate a number in the hundreds. With Granada water polo needing funds in the hundreds, they disclosed that even other schools, such as Amador, are asking almost double the amount to fund their season. So with this example, you can see how selling merchandise is good, but mostly only for players on the team.

Another example, coming from sophomore Ashwin Gaur, talks about his time last year with lacrosse and its gear.

Gaur said, “it was my first year trying the sport, and while owning the gear is great, it is a big commitment to buy the gear if you do not plan on keeping with lacrosse. ”

Gaur also was agrees with the claim that, “while funding from the school would be great, it is not needed. Just a little more publicity on fundraisers would go a long way.”

Since he said he planned on continuing with lacrosse, obviously investing into the pricey gear is worth it, as he will have fun playing with his team for years to come, but if someone were to spend a large sum of money on just one season, the price tag looks less appealing.

So obviously, the answer that you could ask for to fix this problem is to get funding from the school. But that is something I feel would have happened a while ago if it was an easy fix. What I think would be an easy fix is adding more publicity for existing fundraisers, and adding new fundraisers to go towards the department as a whole.