My youngest son is playing football this fall, or trying to. He got hurt in preseason practice, had surgery, and has not played a single game yet. But he still shows up every day, does what he can, and keeps his grades up because that is what being part of the team requires.
Last year he followed in my footsteps and joined speech and debate. He attended every tournament, kept going when the rounds did not go his way, and came out the other side more confident and more connected than when he started. These activities gave him community, accountability, and purpose. These are things a lot of high school kids never get.
This year he is going to try to do both. I think that matters. And I think about what made it possible for me at his age.
When I was in school, activities leveled the playing field. It did not matter much what your family had. If sports were not your thing, there was debate, band, choir, drama. These programs opened doors to college and a future that might otherwise have stayed shut. They gave kids from every kind of background a place to belong.
That safety net is fraying. In my son’s district this year, activity fees were doubled. What cost a hundred dollars now costs two hundred, and that is before travel, equipment, and everything else that comes with it. Two hundred dollars may not sound like a mountain to some people. To a lot of Idaho families right now, it is.
We are already seeing the consequences. Multiple games this fall have been canceled because schools cannot fill their rosters. One injury empties a bench. Programs that were already running lean are now running on borrowed time.
Idaho politicians know this is happening. They stand up at forums and talk about opportunity, about kids rising above their circumstances, about the next generation finding their way. They are right that something is being taken from these kids.
Then they point the finger at transgender students.
There are not enough transgender athletes in Idaho high schools to cancel a single game. There are not enough to double a single fee. The threat to your kid’s ability to play football, run cross-country, or march in the band is not a small group of students trying to participate in something they love. It is the same budget cuts and funding failures that have been squeezing Idaho schools for years. Politicians who know that and choose to talk about trans kids instead are not protecting your children.
Idaho families deserve leaders who are honest about what is actually breaking. We need to fully fund our schools, bring activity fees back to levels families can afford, and stop sacrificing programs that change kids’ lives on the altar of political distraction.
My son still shows up to practice, even when he cannot play. Idaho kids deserve the same chance to show up and to get in the game.
David Roth is Idaho’s state committeeman representative to the Democratic National Committee and a member of the Bonneville County Democratic Central Committee.