Changes are in store, Western students. Before this year, Western athletes were treated to free admission to any sporting event taking place during the same season as their sport. For example, any WAHS golfer could get into any WAHS home football game, but they would have to pay for winter and spring sports games.

This year, however, the ticket policy is different. All WAHS students will be allowed admission into any WAHS sporting event, excluding varsity basketball and varsity football. This means that sports like soccer and baseball, which normally cost money to get into, will be free for all WAHS students. This also means that fall sports athletes will not be able to go to varsity football games for free anymore. The same goes for winter sports athletes attending varsity basketball games.

WAHS athletic director Steve Heon said that the changes were made to get students out to cheer on their classmates involved in sports that don’t receive as much attention. He says that tickets for varsity football and varsity basketball will still be sold at a discounted price during school, like they were in previous years.

Students had mixed feelings over the change. Senior Harrison McGrady, who plays for the football team, said, “I think it’s dumb because people who pay $75 to play a sport at Western should be able to get into any sport for free because they are paying the school to play a sport.”

Another senior football player, Osiris Crutchfield, said, “I’m not sure how I feel about it because I do play football and basketball so I do not have to pay for tickets. If you don’t like it make your verses heard.”

Junior soccer player Michael Kunkel pointed out who it affected most, saying, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for fall athletes not to be able to get into the football games for free, but overall I think it’s a good thing because all the other sports will have more fans.”

It seems that this change benefits most WAHS students, especially non-athletes. There are certainly benefits and consequences of this change, which will play out over time.