With students entering and exiting the football games, money has been transferred back and forth with the people at the front. Emerald paper being given to one another as full payment, or as change. But now, the paper money has disappeared from the match, and getting switched out from something else on the bench. A debit card.
The change to cashless games has had students scratching their heads in confusion, with many being unable to attend.
One of which is senior, Caelee Martines, a cheerleader and four-year attendee of Paso Robles High School and football games.
However, she wouldn’t be able to go to a single game anymore if she didn’t get free entry as a cheerleader, as she is not allowed to own a debit card. Most of her friends have stopped attending, and people that she used to recognize have halted attending.
“There’s significantly less attendance in games and it makes it like, it kind of makes cheer boring now because there’s not like a crowd to engage with. Like it’s the shout-out to the same people but like the same people every game pretty much that I’ve noticed,” Martines said.
Senior football player Ayman Benbrahim holds a similar opinion on the matter. Despite being on the team, Benbrahim has had to give them his debit card information to get into a game before.
“My personal opinion is that they should just take both and cash because everybody can get in. You don’t need a debit card or some way to pay, so everybody can get in. They can all enjoy the experience of going to a game and don’t have to require a debit card or some kind of card to pay online,” Benbrahim said.
Yet, in an interview with Amanda Thompson, the recent changes have been proving good economically for the school.
Making a total of $15,955 from the Paso Robles Bearcats vs Atascadero Greyhounds for the boy’s junior varsity and boys varsity, compared to 2021 with a total of $13,101.70, with the Atascadero game having the highest attendance rate compared to recent games of the past year.
With Paso Robles being one of the last schools to move over to a cashless system in the CCAA, cashless games allow for more accountability of the school’s funds.
Meaning now there are little to no issues in accounting. The money made from the tickets that are sold is given to the gate staff and is also paid to the officials which costs $40,000 a year. Besides these changes, we can expect a few more.
“We are bringing a new traditional competitive cheer team, which is a CIF sport, to Paso Robles this year. Their season of sport is in the winter and their coach is Codie Wilshusen. At a typical cheerleading competition, teams perform a 2-and-a-half-minute routine with music that includes stunts, jumps, and tumbling. Teams are judged by a panel of cheerleading experts on difficulty and execution. We are also in the works of building beach volleyball courts over by the district office across the street. It’s in the early stages, but we hope to have the courts ready for competition by this spring. And lastly, our hope is to have a girl’s flag football team next school year! It’s a fast-growing sport and we are excited to bring it to Paso Robles!” Thompson said.
Despite student opinion, the product of the cashless games system has proven beneficial for both attendance and economic gain.
