Evan Jimenez is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Higley High School for AZPreps365.com

GILBERT, Ariz. — Water is a constant presence on the sideline at Higley football practices and games, but keeping an entire team hydrated comes with a cost. 

Keeping a high school football team hydrated in Arizona's heat requires planning beyond the water bottles on the sideline. For Higley providing hydration supplies raises questions about the resources needed throughout a season, the costs involved and who ultimately pays the bill.

Higley's football program uses a water hydration tank with 10 outlets, along with water coolers and Gatorade bottles, to provide players with fluids during practices and games. 

“We have two athletic trainers and they have two student interns that start around noon by getting all of the water tanks,” Higley athletic director Aaron Dille said. “We have four of those we put throughout all sides of the field, both on all of our practice fields. Kids are no further away from half of a field to go grab one of those.” 

While the hydration tanks are placed throughout the field, Higley head coach Eddy Zubey said players are not limited to designated water breaks when they need to hydrate. 

“We have these big 35-gallon water tanks. We have four of them at practice and during games. We deal with just Gatorade and just continue to hydrate,” Zubey said. “They’re allowed to get water whenever they need and want it during practice. So we do have specific water breaks, but we always have water bottles that are out by the players whenever they need it.”

For Higley senior Antonio Young, the setup makes it easier for him to stay hydrated as the season progresses. He said he drinks more during games than practices because games allow him to rehydrate more easily.

“I feel like I drink a lot more during the game than practice,” Young said. “During practice, it’s kind of like scheduled out where I’m just going to push myself, push me past my limits, whereas once I get to a game, I’m more conditioned, and then I can just rehydrate myself, eat a little easier, and not have to worry about it as much. So it kind of just makes it easier for me during the season.”

Water, Gatorade, and ice are among the supplies that can support a football team's hydration needs but the financial side of providing those resources is less visible to fans watching the Knights compete.

“The Gatorade package is an $8,000 package that also comes with water bottles, orange coolers and Gatorade towels, but that’s it. The rest is water,” Dille said.

While the Gatorade package covers several of the program’s hydration supplies, water is a separate expense that can be as high as $14,000 by the end of the season, per Dille. 

The cost of the package has changed since Dille began working at Higley, reflecting how the program’s hydration expenses have shifted over time beyond just inflation.. 

“It has changed for two good reasons,” Dille said. “Number one, our team has grown since my time here. I've been here for 10 years, and we’ve gone from a 4A school to a 6A school, from 120 kids to 175 kids in the program. And so your hydration needs have jumped as well. And then, of course, the overall cost of things. That $8,000 Gatorade package used to be $6,000 10 years ago, and the water bill is more expensive than it was 10 years ago.”

As hydration costs have increased, the expenses are split between different sources of funding. 

“Parents don’t need to contribute for that. We pay for a portion of it, like the water and stuff comes from our school budget,” Dille said. “Then the Gatorade package comes from the team, their boosters buy that.” 

The price of hydration is one more expense Higley must account for as its football program continues to grow.