With higher costs, fewer on the field

But there is evidence that as athletic fees continue to climb, participation is dropping.

Andrew Morency, second-year football coach at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School, must persuade student-athletes to play despite having to pay a $940 fee, believed to be the largest in the state.

Morency said last year after the jump in the fee, which was $800 in 2007, he saw little impact, with a strong senior class and 57 players. This year, heading into the first week of practice, he is unsure how many will be turning out.

“It’s unrealistic to expect it wouldn’t have an impact,’’ he said. “My sense is we will feel it this year. It’s challenging to get kids to come out, especially when you’re talking about kids who may not play, and I try to be honest and sincere with kids.

“Some kids just love the game and are going to play no matter what. But what about the others?’’

The program at Hamilton-Wenham is a classic case of Catch-22: The cost is keeping some players from coming out, but the more the roster shrinks, the higher the cost for those who do play. Morency said the school’s booster club is strong and plays an important role in keeping the fees from being even higher.

Scott Moreau is athletic director at Tyngsborough High, which charges athletes $500 for a first sport, $400 for a second, and $300 for the third.

“We have seen participation drop in some sports and not in others,’’ he said.

He estimated that participation has fallen between 10 and 20 percent in recent years in sports such as girls’ basketball, track, cross-country, football, wrestling, and softball.

At Haverhill High, outgoing athletic director Peter Shanahan said he has seen participation drop dramatically, from about 1,100 student athletes to 575 over the last six years. At one point, 65 students dropped out of the athletics program after the School Committee finally came to an agreement about fees just as fall practices began.

The fee at Winthrop High - $425 per sport - worries athletic director Robert O’Leary, who said athletic participation at the school has declined 10 percent overall, 16 percent in football.

“We depend on our two-sport and three-sport athletes,’’ he said.

Charlie Stevenson, head football coach and athletic director at Xaverian High and president of the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association, said as an administrator at a private school with no athletic fees (“just one big fee,’’ as he puts it), he can’t give hard-pressed public schools advice about how to fund football programs.

He hasn’t heard a lot from membership about fees curbing participation, but he is concerned about high fees affecting the athlete-coach relationship.

“Certainly, the trend now is more what’s in it for me instead of just being part of a team,’’ said Stevenson, who has watched a handful of his former players, including Matt and Tim Hasselbeck, and Greg Comella, play in the National Football League. “Now you have the added angle of the player making a significant financial investment. There’s no doubt it could be counterproductive to what a coach is trying to do.’’