“Don’t Ambush Us”: StFX Student-Athletes React to Last Minute Fees

All X-Women & X-Men interviewed in this story spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from the Athletic Department.

It was early August when StFX’s student-athletes began trickling in for their pre-season camps. Football, rugby, and soccer were first, followed a few weeks later by cross country, hockey, and basketball. As players began their training, their focus was interrupted by a surprise: an August 13th email saying StFX’s Athletic Department is charging its athletes an extra $250 in fees. 

The email was not met with open arms. Athletes were angry at the lack of notice, close to half of them had already begun training camps and many more were getting settled in town. As a student-athlete myself, it seemed unfair to be asked for money that had never been discussed with us previously, especially as we already pay hundreds of dollars in team fees every year, ranging from $250-$700 depending on the sport. Many other student-athletes shared this sentiment.  

“It was very frustrating”, shared a member of X-Women Hockey. “I felt very confused. My budgeting for the school year is done over the summer, and this extra fee wasn’t accounted for in my planning.” When asked how this extra fee affected them, a student-athlete with X-Women Rugby stated that “with [the rugby] season starting so early this year, that was over three weeks' worth of work gone. It’s another added stressor, another additional cost. Prices for everything are going up. The lateness of this notice was the biggest issue.” This feeling was reciprocated by a member of the X-Men Football team. “Money is tight. $250 is a lot of money. I’m not on a scholarship, and this money ended up coming out of my food budget for the year. We didn’t find out about it until it was too late”. 

In an interview with Krista McKenna, Manager of Varsity Athletics and Communications, we discussed the timeline of the decision for the fee. “The fiscal year at the University ends on March 31st but we start budget planning in October. So [the decision] would have been over the course of last year into the spring,” says McKenna. Yet the letter, dated July 30th, was only emailed to student-athletes on August 13th. McKenna says the delay “might’ve come down to staff vacations... Leo [MacPherson, Director of Athletics and Recreation] drafted the letter and sent it to me through the student portal”.  

If the fee was decided on in the Spring, why was the letter of notification only drafted on July 30th? Not to mention it being tabled for two weeks due to “staff vacations”. StFX student-athletes deserve better from our administration. A member of X-Men Football asks Athletics to “let us know early and clarify on the reasons why this is happening. Don’t ambush us”. One of his teammates reiterates this statement: “I understand that there are expenses that come with a university athletics program. But you need to realize that we are students first, and this is a lot of money. We need ample warning so we can budget beforehand”. A member of X-Women Hockey notes, importantly, that “our athletic and academic scheduling doesn’t allow much time to work in order to make this money up”.  

Expecting student-athletes to hand over a sum of money without proper preparation is simply unfair. It is unacceptable that a decision about our finances, made in the spring, was only communicated towards the end of the summer, leaving most athletes with no opportunity to make up this money.  

In the email, the distribution of funds is described?  as being directed to “Athletic Therapy, Strength & Conditioning, Mental Performance, Sport Nutrition, and Leadership Development”. Many athletes find this list too vague.  “I’m still confused as to where this money is going. This kind of confusion and lack of notice harms our relationship with the Athletic Department. It feels like there’s a gap in communication between athletes who make up the program and the higher ups that run it,” says a member X-Women Soccer. 

McKenna explained the distribution in more detail during our interview: “It’s not an even distribution. It goes towards the costs that are above and beyond operating costs [of these services]. In terms of Sports Performance, there are a lot of equipment and human resources expenses to run that space. In terms of Mental Performance, funding will be used to pay for Performance Consultants that we hire. For Sports Nutrition, it would help to cover the costs of consultants and workshops we host for the teams. Athletic Therapy goes more towards supplies and equipment we need over and above operating costs. Because we’ve elevated them all, we don’t want to have to reduce any services.” While these are all necessary expenses, it is unfortunate that this kind of transparency was not included in the original email. Athletes deserve to know where their money is going and what it will be used for. 

“Wearing the X is an absolute privilege,” says a student-athlete with X-Women Rugby. “But being an athlete, we experience different lows than other students, different pressures. And the financial pressures are weighing heavily on a lot of student-athletes, in a way I’m not sure it always has. More athletes are accessing services such as food banks and financial aid. While I understand that it is a necessity, the more heads-up that can be given, the better”.