Over the past couple of years, the attraction of club sports has grown rapidly. Many young athletes and their parents have dug into the opportunities of being able to play a sport year-round. Club programs offer a competitive level of play, elite coaching and a path to athletic success and experience. The only downside to club sports is the cost.
While club sports are a great opening to the world for young athletes, the cost throws in a gateway to issues and can be a lot on parents.
From the registration fees and equipment costs, to the travel expenses and tournament fees that come along later, it can be a lot to try and put down.
Club fees can quickly escalate into thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars.
“The fee itself just for my club team is two to three thousand dollars, and that does not even add up the additional costs for travel,” Mia Kesner said.
Kesner plays for a club softball team that plays 11 months out of the year. With the registration fees already being thousands of dollars, it does not account for the hotels, gas and other travel expenses incurred.
“Hotels and gas make it around 4,000,” Kesner said.
While Kesner spends thousands of dollars a year just to play her sport, she feels that it is worth the cost with the amount of time she puts in and the experience she receives.
The question most parents and even some players have with club fees is if it is really worth all the money.
With how much time that players spend working on skills and traveling to tournaments, the money seems like a fair amount. While some might still say it is far stretched, most people forget to think about the coaches and directors who also put in their time to the club.
Coaches and directors put in the same amount, if not more, as the players do.
“During summer, I invest about sixteen hours a week into club,” Kesner said.
If she is playing or practicing sixteen times a week during the summer, that means her coaches are too, and that does not include the time they put in outside of practice.
Some of the fees help to pay coaches, who are there in their spare time. Investing that much time into a sport and a team seems like a fair trade for at least some money.
I believe that some clubs do ask for absurd amounts of money, but it is also fair that there is a payment for playing the sport year-round and investing in things like uniforms and equipment.
I have played club volleyball for five years now, and my family has spent loads of money on club fees and travel expenses.
While it is a lot and seems a little rough at times, the experience is one hundred percent worth it.
The exposure I have gotten and even the places my family and I have got to travel and explore make up for it.
Most people will still see the expenses as outrageous and even call clubs greedy, but what comes out of the expenses is the true payment.
No matter how many times the saying goes around, “you do not need to be rich to play club,” just getting to learn and have that exposure to the world is the real price.
