Moshier: Pay-to-play Empire State Games won't last

The bloom was already off this rose. Now that Scholastic Division athletes will have to shell out $285 to compete, the Empire State Games might just wilt away to nothing.

 

For the first time since the Empire State Games began in 1978, high school athletes will be charged to participate in the Scholastic Division. The state also plans to do away with the Open (college-age and older) and Masters divisions.

 

The cuts are reportedly part of a reduction in New York State’s parks and recreation budget, and the entry fee for high school athletes will almost certainly turn off a large number of would-be participants.

 

Many of the state’s best young athletes already were skipping the Empire State Games, instead choosing to attend summer camps, or play in summer leagues – like AAU basketball, for instance. That has hurt the quality of the games. Asking athletes to try out for a pay-to-play Empire State Games certainly won’t help.

 

Don’t be surprised if it leads to their extinction.