SouthFlorida.com | Teen Link South Florida

The stadium is packed.

The crowd is erupting in applause and cheers.

Students, parents and faculty all came to see this event.

The event, of course, is a boys' basketball or football game. A big rivalry in boys' basketball or football can pack a stadium and create great revenue for a school's athletic program.

Some people have complained that smaller sports and female sports should get an equal amount of money from the school, that everyone deserves an equal share of the pot.

But I think the more revenue a sport brings into the school, the more they should be rewarded for their program.

The money that teams receive goes to uniforms, supplies and the overall team budget. So although all sports should be respected and given sufficient funds, the sports teams with the most players and support should be given the most money.

Athletics, like many other things, is a business; athletic directors know that they have to give funds to the teams that people are going to watch.

When a team has more funds, it can buy team apparel (shoes, cleats, pads, sweatbands) and look better when people go to support them.

I don't believe that the lower-funded teams should be so poorly funded that they cannot buy team uniforms. However, the better-supported team should be able to buy more things to make themselves look better for the fans.

Equal funds for every team is a great idea, but there are just not sufficient funds at most schools to support every team at the same level.

Teams that don't get the money they are expecting from the school have many options to raise money, including bake sales, donation boxes, car washes and other initiatives.

Athletics are a huge part of the high school environment, and many schools pride themselves on their top ranked teams. Those top-ranked and top-supported teams should be given top funding.