Seattle Seahawks star Michael Bennett has a genuine gripe against the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry. Bennett, who lives in Oahu, Hawaii, during the NFL offseason, spoke out on Thursday against the prices the Warriors were charging to host a sold-out Steph Curry youth basketball camp in Oahu.
Ahead of hosting his own youth football camp happening this weekend, Bennett talked to KHON about how Golden State’s camp prices angered him.
“I see a lot of different athletes come through Hawaii whether it’s Steph Curry or whoever it is,” Bennett said. “They all come here and it makes me mad, because I live in this community and I understand this community — that there’s so many kids who can’t afford to pay such a high amount of money.”
A few campers got more bang for their buck.
Bennett is right, because the income inequality gap in Oahu is massive. According to 2015 Census figures, 30 percent of Oahu’s population lives below the poverty line, but the island also boasts some of the state’s richest families.
Given the price to attend Curry’s four-day, three-night camp, participants were likely from out-of-town or the progeny of some of Oahu’s wealthier residents. At Curry’s camp, overnight campers (staying in BYU-Hawaii dorms) were charged $2,250 and extended day campers were charged $2,000. Airfare was not included in the price, but the Warriors’ listing for the camp promised plenty of Steph Curry for their 90 or so privileged campers.
“In my mind it’s like, how much money do you need before you start giving back for free? And I think a lot of athletes should start focusing on that,” Bennett continued. In his opinion, millionaire professional athletes have a duty to help all kids ― rich or poor ― achieve their own athletic dreams.
The problem is, many athletes continue to hold youth sports camps for expensive prices, despite the nationwide “pay to play” debate in youth sports. Simply put, youth athletes from wealthier families receive superior training, coaching and teammates than their poorer counterparts ― many of whom have aspirations of lucrative college scholarships or professional careers. A 2012 survey cited by Forbes found that one in five American parents spend more than $1,000 annually per child on sporting costs.
Summer camps hosted by professional athletes are among the pricier draws, because what kid wouldn’t want to play their favorite sport with their favorite athlete? For example, the company ProCamps works with athletes like Kyrie Irving, Karl Anthony-Towns, A.J. Green and Reggie Bush to help recruit prospective campers to their pricey events. Irving’s July camps alone cost $349 a session. In all, these camps help add up to a $7 billion industry for youth sports, according to the Sports Facilities Advisory.
And that’s an industry Bennett doesn’t plan on contributing to. His wife is a native of Oahu, and the couple were married in Hawaii in 2012. Since then, sparked by Bennett’s deep affinity for his new community, his foundation has held football camps and health festivals for local students. All for free.
In June, NBA player Jabari Parker hosted a free camp in Oahu. Like Bennett, he was spurred by connection to the island, but unlike Bennett, Parker has ancestral roots there.
While Bennett didn’t boast about his own work in Oahu to KHON, he did send a message to professional athletes looking to host a sports camp in Hawaii: Give back.
“If you do have a camp and you charge money for it, you need to make sure that money that you take from this community, you give back to the kids that are paying for the camp. These are the kids that live here,” he said.
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