PIHS to begin charging admission
for soccer games
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
KAYLA RICHARDS (11) of the Presque Isle Wildcats battles a Fort Kent player for possession of the ball during a recent preseason tournament played at the Gehrig T. Johnson Athletic Complex. This fall, for the first time, SAD 1 will be charging admission for its high school soccer games.
PRESQUE ISLE – Much like it does with basketball and hockey, Presque Isle High School will now be charging admission for its soccer games played on the district’s turf field starting this fall.
“We’ve never charged for soccer before,” said SAD 1 Superintendent Gehrig Johnson, “but with the finances the way they are, and budget tightening everywhere, our athletic programs are under financial stress, too. This is a way to try to alleviate some of that stress on the program.”
Admission will be $4 for adults, $2 for students, and free for senior citizens, which is the same pricing schedule as hockey and basketball contests. Season tickets are available for $30 at the PIHS Athletic Office. Hours are 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
According to Dave Heald, athletic director, attendance at soccer games has been “pretty good” the last few years.
“I’ve never counted the number of people who attend home games before,” he said, “but we usually get a fair attendance for both the boys’ and girls’ games as our teams have been very competitive – and successful – over the last few years.
“This is one of those things that we’ve talked about for a number of years,” said Heald, “and it’s just one way of maybe getting some revenue like we do from hockey and basketball. Some districts are charging activity or pay-to-participate fees, but we don’t want to have to do that if we can help it, so we thought this might be a way to put a little more income toward the district and pay for some of our expenses. Our field is fenced in so it’s easy to have people pay as they come in. We’ll try and see what happens.”
Heald estimates a few hundred dollars could be generated per game.
“If we have 100 adults come, that’s $400,” he said. “I think there’s the potential to see $400-$500 per game. Every little bit helps and it will add up as the year goes on.”
“In southern Maine they started charging several years ago to attend soccer games,” said Johnson. “We’ve been resisting, but because of the financial stress, it was something we had to do.”
The first home game is Wednesday, Sept. 1 when the Wildcat girls take on the Caribou Vikings. The boys play Thursday, Sept. 2. The JV teams will play at 5 p.m. while the varsity teams take to the field at 7 p.m. at the Dr. Gehrig T. Johnson Athletic Complex at Presque Isle Middle School.
