Why Are Youth Sports So Expensive

As a parent, getting our kids involved in recreational activities can seem like another major monthly expense. With so many options for youth sports, it’s becoming increasingly more costly. Just basic recreational leagues can cost a hundred dollars or more. Since I live the best of both worlds being a coach as well as a parent, I wanted to provide you with an insider’s perspective of why the costs can be high.

Why are youth sports so expensive? It’s simply that the operating costs to make running a youth sports program a sustainable full-time business require higher registration costs for owners to make a living. Here are some of the factors that go into the cost of youth sports:

• Marketing
• Insurance
• Travel
• Equipment
• Education
• Facility Rentals
• Operating a Business

Breaking Down the Cost

As an experienced coach and youth sports business owner, let me break down some of the reasons why pricing can at times, seem overwhelming for parents. Many trainers, fitness instructors, or coaches work in the profession as a side gig. Even though we as coaches are passionate about what we do, it can be tough to make ends meet coaching youth. Let’s take a closer look.

Marketing– It can be expensive to advertise to promote a business and generate youth participants. Say a youth sports business is trying to earn $50000 per year and charge $50 for an individual session or for a league, that’s 1000 kids per year or about 83 kids per month. It can be a challenge to sustain that level of ongoing recruitment of kids without paying for the proper marketing strategies.

Insurance– Liability insurance is a must for anyone in the private coaching or training business. Paying for insurance helps protect the coach from potential lawsuits that could occur if malpractice is assumed. It’s not a huge fee to pay for insurance, but it’s still another expense to be paid by professionals.

Travel– The days of just traveling regionally for your high school teams are long gone. Many club teams travel all over the country to play tournaments, which include kids as young as elementary students. As we all know, the cost of travel isn’t cheap, someone has to pay for it.

Equipment– Some programs provide various equipment for kids to utilize like bats, balls, cones, goals, and more. There are leagues that supply things like jerseys, shirts, medals, and trophies.

Education– For high-end youth sports services, coaches and trainers are furthering their expertise through various licenses, certifications, seminars, clinics, and classes. A simple analogy would be a medical specialist is going to demand more than a general doctor due to the more specialized knowledge of a specific area. A coach that has more specialized training is going to be charging more for their time than a volunteer coach in a recreational league.

Facility Rentals– It can be hundreds of dollars to rent a gym or indoor facility for just an hour. Additional costs like paying for staff to clean the facility afterward and other fees can add up quickly. Just to practice at a local park, it costs money to reserve fields and areas. The parks often need proof of insurance.

Operating a Business– Business owners have various expenses to consider like possibly paying employees or hiring accountants. Costs like gas, office supplies, website, phone, and general day to day business expenses become a factor.

Find what works for your family

Hopefully, the rising costs of youth sports don’t deter your family from participation. Youth sports are actually reasonably priced in comparison to other clubs, recreational activities, and programs.

What Do You Hope to Accomplish

I think this is a big question that parents should ask when getting their kids involved in youth sports. Knowing what you want from youth sports will help with finding something at the right cost. With all the options that are currently available and just continue to arise, knowing what you’re looking for will go a long way.

Here are a couple things to consider:

Just for Fun

Ok, so all youth sports options should be fun, but if you’re just looking for a fun experience and participation, then a basic youth sports league is your best bet. Some recreational leagues can be overpriced for what you get. I’d recommend looking at local city-run leagues, YMCA’s, HOA’s, Boy’s and Girls clubs or other non-profit organizations.

Competitive

Club teams have taken youth sports by storm over the last decade or so. The teams provide youth with the opportunity to compete in nationally recognized tournaments against other highly skilled players.

Since travel is a big part of club sports, it does typically demand higher fees for participation. There is also a high cost for tournament fees and registration. You don’t always get the best training through club sports or competitive leagues, but you get the experience and exposure of playing a higher level of competition.

Skill Training

Personalized Training and Coaching services can be great for helping kids develop fundamentals and skill development of a specific sport. These types of trainers and coaches tend to have more extensive training, education, certification, and playing experience for the sport that they’re teaching.

These types of training options can be costly but can help your child take it to the next level, which could be going from a novice to making a competitive team or helping an established athlete prepare for the college level.

When looking into these types of training get to know the coach first to ensure they’re what you’re looking for and make sure your child truly wants to participate in this type of training. It takes a commitment from both the parent and child to do private training.

Commitment

Some sports or programs are year round. It’s important for you and your child to consider if you’re specializing in a sport or looking for various sports to be involved in.

For example, youth basketball could include offseason training programs, school season, personal training, spring/fall clinics, club ball, which can take up the whole year depending how involved in that sport you want to be.

This again ties back into knowing what you want from youth sports. Maybe you just want to dabble in a few different sports for fun, which is totally fine.

Shop Around

Exploring your options will help you to find the right program for the right cost. Jumping at the first thing you see or a popular name may be convenient, but could be more costly. Avoid being sucked in by flashy T-Shirts or Ads, some leagues are triple the price but don’t offer triple the value.

Most recreational leagues are coached by parent volunteers that aren’t necessarily knowledgeable about sport specific training, so you shouldn’t be paying astronomical prices for these types of leagues. Pay should be comparable to the level of training being provided.

Low-Cost Sports Options

What if you still want your kids to play sports, but you’re just struggling with other financial demands.  There are some things that can help offset some of the costs of youth sports.

Buy Used Equipment– You can find used sports equipment at discounted prices all over the place. Check garage sales in your area. Buy from friends, Craigslist, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, etc. Play it again Sports or Swap Me Sports are stores that specialize in used equipment.

Participate in Fundraiser– Many kids that participate in school athletics have the opportunity to participate in various fundraising activities to help offset some of the cost of participation. Have your youth take advantage of some of these opportunities.

Referrals or Combo Discount– Many organizations offer discounted rates for referring others or signing up multiple siblings or group discounts.

Income Based– Programs like the YMCA or Boys and Girls Clubs review income and allow hardships or discounted rates for low-income families. Many schools will also allow scholarships or fee waivers for low-income families.

Free Clinics– Many organizations offer free clinics that will teach kids some of the basic fundamentals of a sport. Many times it is for marketing purposes, but also gives your kids an opportunity to try out a sport or participate in something for free.

Participate in a Low-Cost Sport- Some sports don’t have as much cost associated with them. Sports that utilize a lot of equipment and gear can be costly or that require a lot of specialized training.

Soccer can be a relatively cheap option because it mainly is just a ball, shin pads, and cleats. Check out my post, Kids Soccer: The best first sport for kids. Things like track, running, basketball, and swimming utilize very little equipment.

EXCLUSIVE 50% OFF DEAL with my Partner at REEBOK

In summary, the cost of youth sports can add up, but so can anything else that you get your children involved in. Having a better understanding of why some programs cost more and knowing what you are looking for will help you stick within a budget that works for you. There are options for everyone and the benefits of playing youth sports can far outweigh the price tag.

Please comment below on anything that you’ve enjoyed from this post or your thoughts on the cost of youth sports.

photo credit: Phil Roeder =”http://www.flickr.com/photos/88876166@N00/40144184770″>CIML Track & Field Meet via photopin (license)</a