sport fees

**lisettelovebug** · 03-17-2007, 01:36 PM

I'm in shock!!
My husband took the kid to sign up for baseball. (he's 8) I expected some sort of fee, but $40!!! WOW..
That is crazy. Then of course, you have to pay $52 for the box of candy bars to sell!! My husband will take these to work and they will be gone in a day. But it's just the fact that we shelled out $92 for him to play baseball. I would not have been able to afford this with my old income. How do people do it when they don't make much?

**FrugalMomof3** · 03-17-2007, 02:04 PM

I know what you mean, my DD really wants to be in cheerleading but I cant afford the uniform, fees and trips, I fee lbad but told her maybe next year when DS is done.

**Michelle68** · 03-17-2007, 02:47 PM

It cost us $120 (including the candy "fee") for our DS to play Little League baseball. This is one reason why we limit him to one activity per year. It's just crazy the costs of these things. He's talking about wanting to play basketball in middle school and I'm hoping that since it's through school, there will be minimal fees. Tracy, I for one am happy that our DD never expressed interest in cheerleading. I've talked to other people whose daughters are cheerleaders and they say that it can cost $1000 or more a year due to various uniforms, cheer clinics, etc. (Mostly once they're in high school) If she had been interested, we would have had to tell her no.

--Michelle

**littlemotherhaywood** · 03-17-2007, 03:24 PM

It was $65 for dd to play coach pitch baseball this year. No mention of candy bars has been made. Even girl scouts has been rather expensive and sadly, I'm the leader. I've done everything I can to keep the costs down and the only money we've asked our girls for outside of the $30 in dues at the beginning of the year has been $15. It's expensive for us because I have to pay for myself for a lot of things. We have a huge camping trip coming up and it's $24 pp. We agreed to pay $14 per girl out of troop funds, but I still have to pay the full $24 as the leader. I won't take from the girls. I have such a better understanding about how these things work now. Last year I felt nickel and dimed to death. I don't know if dd will participate in any fall activities. It really adds up fast. We still have to buy her cleets for baseball

**bevjean** · 03-17-2007, 03:36 PM

The first year my son played tball we paid $60 something, but a couple weeks into the season they said we owed about $100. Since we didn't do the fundraiser (we just moved to town and didn't know anyone to sell anything to) we could opt out and just pay $100 or my son would be dropped.

I do know that youth sports have fundraisers and don't have a problem participating, but no one mentioned anything to us when we signed up. It turned out that many parents weren't told about that they were required to participate in the fundraiser or that they could buy out of it, so they league decided not to enforce it for that season and I believe they re-wrote their papers for the next season informing the parents of the actual cost. The local little league was so unorganized, supposedly they have had a major turn around in management.

**cherrie79** · 03-17-2007, 04:00 PM

It costs us $110 for Cheerleading, plus $50 buy out for fundraisers (or you can sell $40 in Raffle tickets), PLUS you have to buy spankies, socks, sneakers, and track suit. ANOTHER $165. Their uniforms they use the same every year. But have to be dry-cleaned before returning them. So another $20. Then you have to volunteer at one of the games. So you give them a check for $50. If you do your volunteering, you get your check back, if not they cash it. Almost $400 a year. Not counting having to transport them to all games and practices. Also pay for the end of the year banquet.

My daughter enjoys it, so at the time its worth it to us. When the younger children get older, I don't know what we are going to do. I guess I can cut down the costs by actually selling the raffle tickets and volunteer. But its still going to cost about $500 for 2 girls.

**Bups** · 03-17-2007, 07:25 PM

We pay $120 for my son's soccer - but that includes the uniform, a ball and the fun day. They don't do any fundraising.

As this is the only summer sport he is part of, I don't see it as a lot.

**moldy** · 03-18-2007, 12:02 AM

Try the YMCA. Here softball for dd (locally) is $80. At the Y, it is $25 for members (which we are) and $40 for non-members. Also no fundraising.

**Neeley** · 03-18-2007, 12:06 AM

We know going into our sports that it is going to be expensive and we set between $3k-$5k aside each year for such. DS plays baseball in the regular season and in the all-stars as well. Then there is travel baseball he is getting into also. He plays football with a state sanctioned team and church basketball (the cheapest by far). DD plays church basketball and volleyball. She does volunteer work with the handicapp/disabled baseball league so we have no costs there.

Costs for his baseball are roughly:
~$75 - regular season sign up fee(this includes his jersey and hat)
~$50 - All-Star fee(this includes jersey and hat)
~$50 - regular season uniform pants/socks/belt
~$65 - cleats (his feet grow so fast a new pair is needed each year)
~$50 - All-Star pants/socks/belt
~$40 - two day clinic in the spring with the college team from Faulkner Univ.
~$800-$1000 for 10 months of workouts in the batting cage ($25 per week on average)
$300 - new bat each year(but this year he has gotten two and we have a third on order, so between $800 and $900 this year)
$80 - new first baseman's glove (already has a fielder's glove and a catcher's mitt) This expenses only happens every few years.
$30 - batting gloves (he needs a couple of good pair and wears them out within a season)
$75 - bat bag
$100 - baseballs
$75 - batting helmet (so far we have been able to use the same one for three years)
$80 - practice pants and Underarmour shirts
$45 - parent's shirts for regular season
$45 - parent's shirts for all-star team
$15 - special practice jerseys for all-star team only
Once All-Stars start there are other expenses as well. Since we practice seven days a week for several hours a day/night we have dinner catered in after each practice that goes into the night - about four or five times a week; the admission price to get into the all-star games; travel expenses to and from games, hotel rooms if we make the state tournament etc..Plus each year the boys are given a special gift for making the all-star team, like monogrammed bags, hats, stickers for our vehicles etc, these are paid for mostly by the league but there is a small amount the parents chip in for.

Then we move to football....it is not quite as expensive but here goes......
~$85 - sign up fee
~$100 - helmet - but we can usually get a couple of years out of this
~$120 - shoulder pads - again, depending on how fast he grows I can get a couple of years out of these as well
~$50 - game pants
~$65 - cleats
~$30 - practice pants
~$45 - parent's shirts
Also, his football team is a travel team and we have travel expenses and admission fees to each game.

Fall baseball is much more relaxed and cheaper than regular season. It is more of an instructional time and a chance for the boys to stay on top of their skills in the off-season. Plus most of the boys play football and travel baseball so fall baseball is the one thing that gets put on the back burner:
~$65 - sign up fee

Basketball is through the church and very inexpensive:
~$40 sign up fee (times two - both kids play)
~$50 basketball shoes (times two)
~$20 basketball shorts (they shared their shoes this year)

Volleyball for DD is only $40 for sign ups and nothing more.

It may seem a bit much to some, but we love the sports as much as the kids love to play. This is when we get to be around our friends as well as the kids being around theirs. DH and I are also FIRM believers in an active child is less likely to get into trouble. The money spent is well worth every penny. They look forward to each of their own activities and going to their sibling's events as well.

**cherrie79** · 03-18-2007, 08:58 AM

It's true that a active child gets in less trouble. Alot of the kids in need of these sports, in order to say out of trouble; can't afford the prices. Thats a shame that the prices of these things are so expensive, that kids suffer. Some for the rest of their lives, when they are left to the streets instead of being able to focus on sports or something else that would keep them busy.

**FrugalMomof3** · 03-18-2007, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by Michelle68

Tracy, I for one am happy that our DD never expressed interest in cheerleading. I've talked to other people whose daughters are cheerleaders and they say that it can cost $1000 or more a year due to various uniforms, cheer clinics, etc. (Mostly once they're in high school) If she had been interested, we would have had to tell her no.

Wow! Thanks for the info, I too might have to tell her no but she can find another activity that she would like. She was in Chorus but stopped going, hopefully she wont be too heartbroken but I will explain to her that it isnt within our budget.

**mcphlips** · 03-18-2007, 09:21 AM

My kids play sports almost year round through the YMCA.
I think it was $25 for tball-coach pitch this season.
I really like the program in our area because the t-ball games are an hour maximum..everyone is in the outfield and eveyone hits off the tee twice, no keeping score and then the game is over.

How many activities are everyone's kids in? I wonder how much is too much. I don't want to cart my kids all over the place, but there always seems to be something.
My DD who is 6: swims, plays piano and soccer (each once a week) plus religion
My DS who is 4: swims and plays soccer. he will start piano later this year

Just wondering what everyone else's children are into.. and how much time it takes.

**claimsgirl66** · 03-18-2007, 10:35 AM

I have been there. About 8 yrs ago or so when DD was in h.s., they started for the first time user fees for sports. I want to say it was around $20 or so per sport, it was manageable. I know if someone was low income it was waived at the time. I sucked it up & paid the fees for the field hockey, cheering, then the sports photos, etc....she was my only child so I was able to budget the $$ in. Also when she was in sports, she toed the line a bit more & kept her grades up, so I wanted to encourage that.

But I felt so badly for people who had more than one child who wanted to do sports. Did not seem right that in addition to all the taxes that go to the school, an additional sports fee was tacked on.
I honestly do not see how the schools can expect people to spend all that money.

**elizabethrose** · 03-18-2007, 10:46 AM

My 10 yr old dd does karate thru the rec center which is $85 approx every 3 mo. She can go 2 or 3 x's a week. We homeschool, and thru our co-op younger dd does ballet for approx $70 for a fall and spring semester of classes.
There is no way we could afford high fees like some that have been discussed. It also saddens me that so many in my town choose to go to uber expensive karate "schools" rather than thru the rec program, which is just as qualified. We compete against these schools in tournaments, so I know there is no magic to the high price tag classes.
I agree that busy active kids stay out of trouble, but I worry that some who can't afford these high fees will go into debt unnecessarily in order to keep their kids busy. I think there are other viable alternatives than to these organizations. Sometimes all it takes is a Mom or Dad willing to organize something, like a weekly game ect. My friend organized a hs gym class, so her kids could have enough kids to play diff sport games with. She charged nothing for the class, and everyone had tons of fun.

**cherrie79** · 03-18-2007, 11:01 AM

My 9 year old will do Cheerleading and Gymnastics.
I don't want her activities to interfer with time with her friends and school work. So Cheerleading in the Fall and Gynastics in the spring. Cheerleading alone can sometimes be 3 times a week plus a game. She misses birthday parties, sleepovers, shopping with friends etc. So I don't want her to miss out on alot of those things. Thats why *we* choose this type of schedule for us. Yea she has alot of friends on the team, but alot off too. Gymnastics we only do twice a week. Cause this is around the time the weather gets nicer and after a long cold winter, she likes be outdoors more.