Are sports pricing themselves out of the market?

[Amy in AZ.]

I just ran onto this blog, but it is interesting. I have a student, from a family of 6 that is living in a 5th wheel, trying to save money to buy a home. She isn't in travel ball, but she is a great athlete. I didn't know their finances, until recently.

Are Kids Sports Pricing Themselves Out of the Market? - CheckSwing

 

[GatorGirl]

Rec stuff seem totally affordable to me, but travel is staggering. I read something here on the board that I thought was disturbing but didn't comment cause we aren't in travel. "Bottom three kids pay to ride the bench so the top three kids don't have to pay." Does anyone know what is meant by that?

It seems odd that she isn't even in travel and they are paying for lessons and they are trying to save for a home. I am really taken aback after watching part of that HBO special last night and the money some of those spent that clearly didn't have to spend.

If there is money to be made, someone will take advantage of it, that is for sure. Kids sports aren't immune I guess.

PS What is a 5th wheel?

GG

 

[Momo'sDad]

A 5th wheel is a trailer-style RV.

Depending on the overall quality of service they provide, it's my belief that most coaches of upper-level teams should receive a stipend of some sort. It may not always equal up to their own DD's fees to be on a team, but something should be paid to offset their time or travel expenses. Regarding the quote, though, there are teams where a great player or players have been recruited to the team with a scholarship. And in those cases, there are players whose families do pay full fees who will end up getting a lot less playing time than the scholarship players.

 

[GatorGirl]

WOW! Pay so the better kids can play and you can watch? Bowing out now before this gets ugly.

 

[JJsqueeze]

A 5th wheel is a trailer-style RV.

Depending on the overall quality of service they provide, it's my belief that most coaches of upper-level teams should receive a stipend of some sort. It may not always equal up to their own DD's fees to be on a team, but something should be paid to offset their time or travel expenses. Regarding the quote, though, there are teams where a great player or players have been recruited to the team with a scholarship. And in those cases, there are players whose families do pay full fees who will end up getting a lot less playing time than the scholarship players.

I'm totally fine with this by the way. How else would a kid who is good get a chance to play high level ball if their family can't afford it? It's the parents choice to make as to whether the team is the right fit, they can always go down a notch to get more time.

 

[GatorGirl]

But is this explained up front to the weaker parents kid? "So we have a few players that are much better than yours and they are going to get more playing time. Oh and they don't have to pay to play, but you do. And you will most likely not play much."

I think I would rather spend my money on lessons than pay to have my kid rid the bench so better players could play. This is a tough one. But again, we don't play travel, so I will try and limit my responses.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Haven't read the article yet, but look at what schools win high school state championships?

By in large, private schools and affluent-area schools are the dominant forces in the all-sports trophies. Surely one reason is money. Kids in those schools are more likely to have the financial backing to play sports year-round. And the biggest schools are so much bigger than they were 30 years ago, when I was in high school. If you're in a high school of 2,000-3,000 students, you have to play your sport year-round just to make any team that is competitive. There are going to be travel players cut from my daughter's soon-to-be high school this spring.

If you're a really good athlete with the necessary drive, there are ways to be the odds. Not every sport is ultra-expensive. So I'm not trying to paint a picture of ''only the rich'' can thrive in sports. That's obviously not true. And you still can't just buy it for your kid. She has to have the talent and the passion. But the price you have to pay to be good at a sport is getting higher.

 

[JJsqueeze]

But is this explained up front to the weaker parents kid? "So we have a few players that are much better than yours and they are going to get more playing time. Oh and they don't have to pay to play, but you do. And you will most likely not play much."

I think I would rather spend my money on lessons than pay to have my kid rid the bench so better players could play. This is a tough one. But again, we don't play travel, so I will try and limit my responses.

Probably not, but does it need to be? Just observing where your kid is in the ranks should tell you all you need to about the amount of time she should be getting, whether or not the team is the right fit etc. The fact that another family is not paying means nothing to me, that is not my business. How is this different from college tuition or private school? some kids are there on scholarship based on merit, some kids' families are paying every cent of the tuition.

Now if I found out a kid with equal or lesser talent was getting this deal, I would have a much different reaction.

 

[marriard]

But is this explained up front to the weaker parents kid? "So we have a few players that are much better than yours and they are going to get more playing time. Oh and they don't have to pay to play, but you do. And you will most likely not play much."

I think I would rather spend my money on lessons than pay to have my kid rid the bench so better players could play. This is a tough one. But again, we don't play travel, so I will try and limit my responses.

In ways I agree with you. I always advise parents to put their DD on a team where she will get to play. We even lay it out for players on our own team who are struggling for playing time at the end of the season - "You could be starting on a different team.", "If you want to get better you need to be on the field", "You want to pitch - well you are #4 here but you could be #2 on X team". And so on. Some stay, some don't... some aren't asked to come back...etc, etc... Some also come back after getting experience they needed on another team (we never burn bridges).

Most times in general it is not explained to anyone and there is more than one situation - some great, some not so:

We have one - the girl is fantastic, the family is struggling and basically all the coaches are putting in some extra so she can play. In this case we are not covering her because she is a great player - we are covering her because it is the right thing for us to do for a player on our team who legitimately was good enough to make the team. Some teams factor in a scholarship across all players dues - some don't and do it other ways (fundraising, service hours for the team, etc).

The girls on the team are the girls on the team - and what WAS paid by any one person is irrelevant on how plays on the field. Otherwise it becomes "pay to play" and suddenly the best sponsor's kid is at SS, Seen it happen all too often.

In our REC league we have scholarship funds for families who are struggling financially. Different situation of course.

There are also absolutely the worst case - the free super-players paying less because they can. Or taking it further - which we see in travel baseball a lot - the player being flown in for the weekend to pitch or hit. There is a guy not lives not from far from me spending upwards of $200,000 per year on his 12U travel baseball team. Not sure what he gets out of it...

As for the original article - yep, costs get ridiculous. I am hugely thankful I live in Florida and having to actually TRAVEL for travel softball is not necessary. Plenty of local competition and if we want to travel we do it is a bonding experience/want to see new teams/driving to nationals/state championships and not because we HAVE TO just to find a game.

My son is in ice hockey and they want him to go onto the local travel team. Hoping he never wants to do it - the cost is $500/mth just for ice time for training and that is before travel, tournament cost, uniforms, equipment, etc - and they HAVE to travel to play teams. Insane the cost for true travel.

 

[CoreSoftball20]

We have one - the girl is fantastic, the family is struggling and basically all the coaches are putting in some extra so she can play. In this case we are not covering her because she is a great player - we are covering her because it is the right thing for us to do for a player on our team who legitimately was good enough to make the team. Some teams factor in a scholarship across all players dues - some don't and do it other ways (fundraising, service hours for the team, etc).

Is this girl fantastic or only just good enough to make the team?