I am definitely not in favor of pay to play. Believe it or not there still are kids who come from poor families. When I was in school, I worked for my books and clothes and spending money. I don't know that I would have been able to participate if it had been pay to play. Certainly, there are some districts that kids would not be able to afford this. I am reminded of a coach telling me when he taught at Topeka High several years ago, he decided it would be nice to have all the kids wear slacks and ties. They had the wrestle offs and one very good black kid won the wrestle off. The day before the match he went to the coach and said he would not be able to wrestle. The reason was the kid did not have slacks and a tie or the money to buy them. The slacks and tie policy ended that day!
Just as importantly, maybe not so much in wrestling, but in other sports if it cost 50.00 to play why not just buy the team new uniforms that should guarantee that your son got the starting quarterback job.