“Above the Fold,” our new lohud/Journal News radio show on WVOX, AM 1460, debuted last week with a discussion on the Christopher Schraufnagel case.
Ed Forbes
At 11 a.m. Wednesday on WVOX AM 1460, I’ll be joined by veteran sports reporters Mike Dougherty and Josh Thomson, as well as lohud/Journal News sports editor Leif Skodnick. Our discussion will center around Dougherty and Thomson’s just-published “Pay to Play” report. This special project, which took the summer to report and to craft, published last week on lohud and in Sunday’s editions of The Journal News.
Among the findings by The Journal News/lohud team that produced “Pay to Play,” an investigation into the growing world of youth sports in the Lower Hudson Valley, are:
- High-level high school athletes can spend as much as $20,000 a year on team fees, equipment, travel, private coaching and personal training. It could be as low at $2,000 for a team that stays close to home with a limited game schedule.
- Outside competition and specialized training have become almost commonplace for students who want to play varsity sports in high school, according to high school coaches, athletic directors, academics, parents and young athletes.
- A full season of soccer, baseball or lacrosse can easily reach the $10,000 mark.
Here’s a bank of links that should get you to much of the reporting undertaken for this story:
PAY TO PLAY: The findings
THE PATH: Experts explain the path to high school varsity squads
OUR REPORT: How the reporters got the story
COSTS: Money and time add up in youth sports
JOE GIRARDI: Yankees’ manager not a fan of specialization by young athletes
EXPENSES: Cost of youth sports creates bigger divide
PLAYING THROUGH PAIN: Does youth sports specialization lead to more injuries?
Mike Dougherty
Mike Dougherty
Mike Dougherty has been covering sports in the Lower Hudson Valley for the last 25 years. After writing extensively about local high school and college athletics for lohud and The Journal News, he spent a decade on the Knicks beat and several seasons covering the Giants. Dougherty has filed stories from the Super Bowl, World Series, NCAA Final Four, NBA Finals, U.S. Open and PGA Championship. He graduated from Slippery Rock University after spending two years at Kennedy Catholic in Somers and now lives in Brewster.
Josh Thomson
Reporter Josh Thomson
Josh Thomson, the lohud Varsity Insider, has been with lohud and The Journal News since 2003. He covers primarily high school football and boys basketball and Iona College men’s basketball. He lives in Westchester with his wife and two daughters.
Leif Skodnick
Leif Skodnick
Leif Skodnick is the sports editor for lohud and The Journal News. As a journalist, Leif has covered local business, as well as the NFL, NBA, college football, horse racing and minor league baseball. He also provided play-by-play radio coverage for several minor league hockey teams, including the world famous Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL. Skodnick lives in Rye and holds a bachelor’s degree in Canadian Studies and History from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, a Juris Doctor cum laude from the Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson, Mississippi., and a master of science degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Above the Fold on WVOX
Tune in at 11 a.m. Wednesday on WVOX, AM 1460 in Westchester. Calls with questions are welcome. Dial 914-636-0110.