By Alex Rodman, Editor-in-Chief
With 24 students earning state championship titles this school year, First Flight was set to order a hefty number of Jostens rings. Averaging just under $200 for each ring, this was no cheap feat.
In previous years, school funding covered the cost of the championship mementos. But this year, budgeting issues coupled with a change in policy resulted in the newly crowned champions paying their own way.
“What changed was that we had about $15,000 one year in state rings that we had to buy and that was over two-thirds of our budget for that year,” Athletic Director Ray Scott explained. “So in order to keep the whole program going this is what we decided to do.”
Despite the cost, many students still opt to splurge for the symbolic bling. Senior Skylar Stultz won his first state title this winter at the NCHSAA 1A/2A Indoor Track and Field State Championship, and he believes that his ring is well worth the money.
“It was an accumulation of all of my accomplishments and hard work, so I wanted to buy it,” Stultz said. “They were actually more affordable than I expected them to be.”
Affordable or not, senior Anne Elliott Taylor said the school should do its best to cover the cost. Taylor was a key member of the women’s soccer team, which won the state title last month.
“I definitely think the school should pay for them if we are representing them. We don’t wear a jersey that has anyone else’s name on it but First Flight,” Taylor said. “We worked so hard to win the state championship and it was a disappointment to think we might not get something that has value to our win.”
Juan Ramirez coached the Nighthawks to this championship in his first year leading the women’s soccer program. Just a year earlier, Ramirez also led the men’s team to a state title, and a major part of that celebration was a ring ceremony. The athletic department budget enabled the school to buy each member of the men’s team a ring. Ramirez was not told about the lack of funding this year for the women’s soccer team and individual champions in track and wrestling, but noted that winning a state championship is a prize within itself.
“I wasn’t aware of the new policy for 2018 until after the championship game,” Ramirez explained. “Although the policy was changed, l am thankful that the girls got to experience something such as a state championship. I am very proud of the effort each player put forward and the support from our community.”
About that support: Recently, parents of soccer players learned that the cost of the rings for the whole team had been covered by an anonymous donor. Though future budget plans remain unknown, the athletic department is hopeful that it can work toward a solution for state ring funding in the years to come.
“I think that we may be able to get coaches to help get sponsorships from different people,” Scott said. “All schools do not buy rings for their athletes. Hopefully we can find something or we can get a scholarship going with outside businesses to help sponsor.”
It’s an expensive proposition. Then again, having too many state champions to buy rings for is not necessarily a terrible problem for any school to face.
Senior Alex Rodman can be reached at rodmanal0704@daretolearn.org.
