Cost of Youth Sports

[WinniWoman]

I consider myself lucky that our son at one point realized he just wasn't good enough for the competitive sport world. He stayed in Boy Scouts- my husband's doing. But other than that we didn't have to spend all that money and do all that running around.

He likes sports enough- he is 29 and has played on a local soft ball team in summer since starting college and a volleyball team in winter. He also likes to play basketball and he has taken up running each morning and hiking the White Mountains on weekends.

And- he loves watching the NFL on TV- except when his team loses- which they just did and are no longer in the playoffs! LOL!

I think sports are great for kids- though I don't care for sports myself. But I do think some of it is way out of hand these days.

 

[Bailey#1]

I remember hearing Wayne Gretzky say that he learned to play hockey by playing pick ups games, he was able to learn his unique style my playing without parents and coaches telling him he is doing it wrong!

 

[VegasBella]

Update

We’re now spending more on figure skating than on his private school tuition!

And his coach is suggesting pulling him out of school and homeschooling or getting a private tutor. Our compromise is that we’re going to take him out of school early two days a week.

He loves it! And he’s so talented. Pulling him out or forcing him to change sports would be cruel. But I never imagined this.


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[Timeshare Von]

As the executive director of a (bowling) organization that awards over $70k in scholarships annually . . . not only to youth bowlers who are highly skilled, but also to those for participating in local leagues and tournaments. Bowling is a great life-long sport that kids can do . . . and can even participate with parents/adults in leagues (adult-youth leagues). It's a very reasonably priced activity/sport as well. Check out this info on our website.

If you need help finding a good program near you, feel free to contact me!

I see new activity in this thread . . . update on bowling in Wisconsin . . . in 2016 we gave away over $100,000 to kids who bowl in our state. Some are based on skill but much of it (nearly $70k) is just for participating and having fun bowling!

 

[pedro47]

I don't think most of us even remotely think about our kids becoming professional athletes when we supported their participation in sports. In our case we saw the benefits of them improving their athleticism, learning teamwork and preparing them for the competitive environment they will face later in life. Another benefit in our case because of where we lived was exposure and friendship with a large number of blacks and hispanics.

George

I liked your assessment the chances for the average child playing any sports to go pro are very slim. As a grandparent with one son playing baseball and basketball and two (2) GRANDKIDS) (one boy and a girl) playing basketball, baseball, and soccer. All three (3) started playing team sports at a very young age advancing to high schools varsity teams, AAU levels traveling team and college teams. They used sports plus excellent grades to receive four (4) years scholarship to some major universities in Virginia.

 

[Timeshare Von]

Update

We’re now spending more on figure skating than on his private school tuition!

And his coach is suggesting pulling him out of school and homeschooling or getting a private tutor. Our compromise is that we’re going to take him out of school early two days a week.

He loves it! And he’s so talented. Pulling him out or forcing him to change sports would be cruel. But I never imagined this.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

WOW! That seems pretty extreme to me. I wish you and your son all the best.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

The odds of getting a college scholarship are extremely low. Breakdown by sport.

http://www.scholarshipstats.com/varsityodds.html

Girls volleyball costs are ridiculous and the pitch of college $ is over hyped by the clubs in the pursuit of profits.

With that said I loved chasing my kids to sports events and practice as this was family time in car etc that would have been lost.

My daughter was fortunate to get a D1 scholarship (not volleyball) . 1 semester alone paid for the club costs in hgh school.

You have to take a good hard look at talent and physical attributes e.g. if girl not over 6 feet in
volleyball or a tall gymnast - odds are not good so don't waste money. It also must be driven by the youth's desire to play.

 

[Timeshare Von]

The odds of getting a college scholarship are extremely low. Breakdown by sport.

http://www.scholarshipstats.com/varsityodds.html

<<SNIPPED>>

That's a great chart with a sobering story! I will be sure to share it with our bowling peeps!

 

[pedro47]

THANKS for sharing this chart. I am going to share this with some high schools Guidance Counselors.

 

[geist1223]

I have never understood why modern parents are putting their kids in helmets and pads to play full contact football at elementary school age. When I was growing up (Hawaii and Southern California) it was Flag Football until High School. I also do not understand the current young parents that spend all their time running their kids from one organized activity to the next so that every day is filled. My kids had Little League, Scouts, and Music. They by choice did not do year round sports, Dance, etc, etc. I see parents enrolling their 3 year olds in full time preschool, even when one parent is not working.

 

[VegasBella]

I also do not understand the current young parents that spend all their time running their kids from one organized activity to the next so that every day is filled. My kids had Little League, Scouts, and Music. They by choice did not do year round sports, Dance, etc, etc. I see parents enrolling their 3 year olds in full time preschool, even when one parent is not working.

haha, that's me! We enrolled our son in full time preschool at age 3 and I don't work. My reasoning at the time was really about convenience. I did a lot of volunteer work and half days just didn't really give me any time at all. The school also encouraged full days. My son can be VERY challenging so early on I enrolled him in many away-from-home programs just to lighten the childcare burden. And we were just exploring lots of things to see where his interests were.

Now that he has a passion I think it's much more important to focus on it rather than continue to spread out the efforts in a ton of different directions. You just can't get really good at anything if you don't focus on it. Don't get me wrong, you need a plan B etc. But there's little chance at becoming an elite athlete if it's not the kid's main focus.

 

[bogey21]

I also do not understand the current young parents that spend all their time running their kids from one organized activity to the next so that every day is filled.

I think the answer is simple. Parents no longer have the option to do what my parents did with me. Simply that was to turn me out at 9 am (in the Summer or after 3 pm school days) with my bike and tell me to be home by dark. I got my exposure to sports on the 4 playgrounds within riding distance from my home.

George

 

[geist1223]

I remember during the summer after breakfast the 3 of us would head out and not see Mom until almost dinner time. Most sports were pickup games in the neighborhood.

 

[PigsDad]

I think the answer is simple. Parents no longer have the option to do what my parents did with me. Simply that was to turn me out at 9 am (in the Summer or after 3 pm school days) with my bike and tell me to be home by dark. I got my exposure to sports on the 4 playgrounds within riding distance from my home.

They had bikes back when you were a kid? <ducking>

Actually, you and Geist make a very good point -- long gone are the days of pickup baseball games on the empty lot around the corner. With almost all sports now being "organized", kids are forced into more planned activities vs. "free play". I can see advantages of both systems; I know I never had access to the level of talented coaching for almost any sport I could imagine back when I was a kid.

Kurt

 

[jehb2]

We'll play 1 YMCA sport in the fall. I told my kids once they reach middle school they can play for school for free (well closer to free). However, my kids have been playing the violin since the ages of 3 & 5. Not too expensive. And they took swim lesson March-May for several years. We try to keep their schedules manageable. If they have to opportunity to do something with friends I let them go.

 

[cdn_traveler]

Update

We’re now spending more on figure skating than on his private school tuition!

And his coach is suggesting pulling him out of school and homeschooling or getting a private tutor. Our compromise is that we’re going to take him out of school early two days a week.

He loves it! And he’s so talented. Pulling him out or forcing him to change sports would be cruel. But I never imagined this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good for you for supporting your son's passion of figure skating! My daughter has been figure skating for the last 5 years, she's passionate about it for sure. She's currently skating three times a week, and if it was up to her, she'd definitely live at the rink. Unfortunately, we have had to curb her enthusiasm due to her other interests (ski racing, speed skating) as well. Figure skating is certainly more expensive than hockey when you add in the costs of private coaching, ice time, off ice training, costs of costumes and boots. I recall that it wasn't too expensive in the beginning, but as she's progressed, the costs are certainly racking up.