<p>Yes, my daughter was given the option of a very small athletic scholarship at her school, or a good financial aid package. Naturally, she chose the latter and that is why she can be expected to have job as well. She is ecstatically happy there and none of what I am writing about bothers her much. But as her financially strapped parents who are struggling to pay the college bills, any additional expenses do indeed concern US. I understand that for most people at her elite school, these small expenditures would be a total non-issue but we aren’t like those people. </p>
<p>Her school is very, very careful to abide by NCAA regulations for recruits, so they are definitely not over-spending on them. It’s just that if the hostess decides to take her visiting recruit into town to get ice cream or see a movie or whatever, and wants my D and other teammates to come along (which is best for helping the recruit get to know the team), the recruiting budget doesn’t pay for my D. It pays for the hostess and the recruit. If this were an ordinary outing that D wanted to go to but didn’t have money, she would politely decline. But in this case she feels an obligation to support the team and help her teammate do a good job hosting–just as she’ll want them to accompany her when she hosts a recruit.</p>
<p>Another unfair expense in my opinion, is that if kids are red-shirted for developmental reasons (ie. not injury), when they compete unattached they have to pay for their own meet entry fees and for transportation to the meets. The school can’t pay for that even though they could afford it and would want to do so, since NCAA rules don’t allow it. If the school pays, the kids would then be counted as on the roster and not redshirted. I get the rationale, but our D is left footing the bill when her wealthy institution would willingly pay if they were permitted.</p>