New Albany-Plain Local adds ice hockey as OHSAA sport; district sets participation fee at $1,500

At its June 9 meeting, the New Albany-Plain Local Board of Education approved superintendent recommendations to sanction ice hockey as an official Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) sport and to set the student pay-to-participate fee for that program at $1,500 for the 2025–26 school year.

The change was announced by Superintendent Sawyers as part of a package of superintendent items approved by the board during the meeting. Superintendent Sawyers said the district is taking hockey “in-house” after it has operated for several years as a club sport and that the district will bear some program costs while parents will continue to pay a higher fee because of ice costs.

The board’s action leaves the standard pay-to-participate fee for other extracurriculars, clubs and interscholastic sports at $125. Sawyers told the board that families paid about $2,700 for the club season last year and that the district’s fee reflects the continuing high cost of rink time. “Ice time is very expensive, both for practice and then the games,” he said.

Sawyers said the hockey program will begin as a coeducational varsity team at New Albany High School and could add a junior varsity team in the future “if it grows over time” and interest and participation increase. He also noted parents plan fundraising activities to help offset some costs.

The superintendent framed the fee as a combination of district responsibility for some expenses and a continuing expectation that families will shoulder higher-than-usual costs tied mainly to rink fees. The board approved the superintendent’s recommended items, which included the fee structure, by roll call vote; the motion carried.

Parents and families were told the district will post the finalized fees and related program information on the district website and include the pay-to-participate information in parent communications ahead of the 2025–26 school year.