Jason Goldie is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North High School for AZPreps365.com.

At North High School, football players are expected to work hard.

They need to maintain grades, attend practices 10 to 15 hours a week and bring everything they’ve got to their Division 6A games each week.

They also take ownership of their season by conducting their own fundraising so they can play the sport they love.

The Phoenix Union High School District, of which North is a part, is the largest district in the state and one of only a few in Maricopa County that does not have a pay-to-play requirement for student-athletes. Instead, students are asked to pay only a $2 athletic fee. The school pays for necessary safety equipment and uniforms, and the football players and coaches assist in fundraising to cover everything else the football team needs.

“Everything that we do, we ask the boys to participate in,” head coach Mark Mejia explained. “Anything we’re doing, usually we’ll have guys involved in some form or fashion.”

This year, the team held a fundraising golf tournament. With the help of players, families and coaches, the team was able to generate just over $15,000 from the tournament, according to Mejia. In addition, the players sent out email requests for donations and participated in a tennis shoe collection.

A large portion of fundraising proceeds -- $6,000 -- goes directly to providing healthy, hearty meals to every football player before every game for the whole season. As a Title I school, at least 40% of the students at North are low-income, so ensuring the athletes are well-nourished is a priority.

“We try to do the best that we can to make sure these boys have everything they need, ‘cause a lot of them, it might be their only meal, especially on game day,” Mejia said.

According to Mejia, the school ensures that each player has necessary safety equipment and uniforms, which includes helmets, pads and back plates, and can cost upward of $700 per player. The safety helmets alone, which are similar to those worn by NFL players, cost around $350 each.

“Really, everything’s paid for by the school,” quarterback Luke Haugo said. “Sometimes, especially for quarterbacks or special positions, you want to go out and buy a specific shoulder pad or helmet, but that’s really it.”

The coaching staff also reached out to approximately 30 different sponsors, who donated money, food and other items, which the players recognize and appreciate.

“Coach Mejia always goes out his way to make sure that if we don’t have it, that he’ll try his best to get it,” wide receiver and defensive back Ezy Brown said.

Even though the coaches and players have to put in extra effort to ensure their needs each season, not having a pay-to-play athletics program has many benefits.

According to Katie Reifurth, a clinical assistant professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, “One of the main benefits of not having pay-to-play is that it’s open to every student. When you have pay-to-play, it’s only open to the students who have the money to pay for it, so you’re leaving out a large majority, in some cases, of students at certain schools….Those students are the ones who are missing out on some great opportunities.”