Season Costs

Discussion in 'Youth & HS Soccer' started by VolklP19, May 16, 2019.

  1. VolklP19

    VolklP19 Member+

    Jun 23, 2010
    Illinois
    #1 VolklP19, May 16, 2019
    Last edited: May 16, 2019
    Just curious what people pay for soccer - having read a recent article where parents are pushing back their retirement because of soccer (likely other sports as well), paying up to $500.00 a month for associated football.

    We used to pay $2500.00 + $400 for a kit and then approx $250.00 in allocations for tourneys.
    - Training 3 x a week (Spring/Fall/Winter)
    - 18 IWSL games
    - 8+ NPL games
    - 2 Tourneys

    $3050.00

    We currently pay $2000.00 + $300 per kit and there are no allocations (same amount of tourneys.
    - Training 3 x a week + 3 hours of strength and conditioning (Spring/Fall)
    - Training 2/ x a week 1.5 hours of strength and conditioning (Winter)... Club allows to pick up a 3rd day at no additional cost.
    - 16 MRL games
    - 4-6 friendlies
    - 2 Tourneys
    - 10 Winter games

    $2300.00
     
  2. DaBurg

    DaBurg Member

    Apr 18, 2019
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Holy hell. I would never pay that. I’d send my kid to all the tryouts in town, and if any team wanted him to play I’d tell them only if they make it reasonable. I’m not in that situation yet, but honestly will never pay that much unless it was a guarantee that my son made it onto a pro level team. Which is never a guarantee. $400 kit? Lol I can buy a premier league kit for like 80-100 bucks. Is this fantasy land?
     
  3. VolklP19

    VolklP19 Member+

    Jun 23, 2010
    Illinois
    Kit includes backpack, warm ups, home and away kits and practice jerseys.

    I should have also said the age - mine is 2005.

    If you think that's a lot - get ready for someone with a 2005 player in ECNL. You can basically double that!
     
    Dirt McGirt repped this.
  4. DaBurg

    DaBurg Member

    Apr 18, 2019
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I hear you. Dang! That's very hard to stomach. It seems like an inverse value proposition. Lets say 20% of those kids (being generous) get a full ride to college after being on a club like this. That full ride would have to surpass all the years paying this kind of money into a club. And what about the other 80% of the kids who paid in and didn't make it? I just don't understand it is all.

    Is there something I'm missing? Are a significant number of these kids going pro, which incentivizes that kind of massive investment?
     
  5. VolklP19

    VolklP19 Member+

    Jun 23, 2010
    Illinois
    No - youth sports is a money grab.

    And frankly I think you are being overly generous about the 20%.
     
  6. DaBurg

    DaBurg Member

    Apr 18, 2019
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    $2,300 for youth sports is fantastically outrageous. Essentially this is the core of why we will never win a World Cup. It seems rather than skill based we're promoting kids up based on parental salary. It's like parents are all living out their dreams of little one becoming the next Messi, except they want to influence it with cash rather than a whole lot of hard individual work.

    Even my rec league still costs close to 100 bucks, which is why we don't see a lot of immigrants and people on the lower end of the social status ladder.

    I was talking with another parent who's son plays baseball. They found out the reason the jerseys were so expensive was because the person who owned the company who was selling them was the same person in charge of the whole organization. Parents have no choice but to pay these double dipping a-holes.

    That's gonna be a no for me dawg.
     
  7. bigredfutbol

    bigredfutbol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 5, 2000
    Woodbridge, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Meh, if the family can afford it and the kid enjoys it, it's no different than spending money for camps, music lessons, or whatever.
     
    Dirt McGirt and sam_gordon repped this.
  8. DaBurg

    DaBurg Member

    Apr 18, 2019
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The problem is that clubs all attempt to siphon of all the talent from the rec leagues, usually lying to the parents about how good they think their player is so they can continue the revenue stream. It fundamentally walls off the soccer culture. It would be fine, but the exorbitant fee is splitting the culture into two. It forces parents to make the decision that the only way for their kid to reach full potential and get noticed is through this system, which is quite high priced, rather than through more accessible paths.
     
    Ssxa repped this.
  9. VolklP19

    VolklP19 Member+

    Jun 23, 2010
    Illinois
    I would say rarely does "real talent" come from rec play. It takes a few years of a club environment for that to play out.

    Most rec clubs are up to 200-220 for a fall and spring season. I only know because I provide a comparative analysis on my rec club since I try to keep our charges well below that. Funny thing is that part of this was me finding out our kit provider was a former board member who worked at the facility that made the uniforms and IMO was over charging. I also felt our organization was over charging as well. I switched providers and then marked down our profit to cover the cost of line paint.
    But I also brought in 2 sponsors to cut the costs by $25 per player - per season. So $50.00 savings across the board.

    Not those are cost issues... Rec's real problem is quality of coaching, availability of volunteer coachs, resources such as indoor play. The weather this Spring has been horrible. It would be great to be able to get some play inside when needed - not too many rec organizatino have that as an option.

    You have rec programs which have travel components who have coaches who move kids up too soon because they want those travel bux $$$.

    I would like too see a governing body limit all these mom and pop clubs by ensure the resources and experience is there - that financially they are sound and that - based on age and league, costs are capped.

    IMO I think $2300 is a dream compared to what I used to spend. And it's far less then what other clubs charge as well.
     
  10. TheKraken

    TheKraken Member

    United States
    Jun 21, 2017
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    We must have it pretty good then.
    $1650 gets us fall and spring league games (U12).
    4-5 tournaments per year.
    2 x outdoor practice + 1 x futsal practice per week. You can practice other days too if you really want.

    Uniforms are about $150, but they only change them every other year, so you can use them again unless your kid grows out of it quickly.
     
  11. ppierce34

    ppierce34 Member

    Aug 29, 2016
    Fort Wayne, IN
    I agree and quite frankly dont think $2300 a year is all that much if you are getting training 2x per week for Fall, Winter and Spring plus tournaments and league games. Coaches cost money. Field rentals cost money. Refs cost money. I think once we embrace that fact that we are in a pay to play world (that is not going to change) and stop being hyperfocused on the fact that we dont live in South America with kids playing barefoot in the street for the love of the game, we can move forward.
     
    bigredfutbol repped this.
  12. CornfieldSoccer

    Aug 22, 2013
    $1,200 a year for our 2005 boy (it'll drop to around $800 when he enters HS next fall and doesn't play club in the fall). That includes:
    3 practices a week fall and spring; 2 a week in the winter.
    One session of winter indoor games (five or six games).
    6-8 league games in the fall, and again in the spring.
    Six tournaments a year (parents sometimes opt to add a tournament that we pay more for)
    Nice uniforms that are replaced every two years (2 jerseys, shorts, 2 pairs of socks, 2 practice T-shirts).
    There are other things the club offers at no or low cost (GK training, an extra night once a week -- I think -- of kids just playing soccer) that we don't take advantage of.

    We pay extra for more indoor soccer games in the winter and do some occasional outside training sessions (mainly summer and winter) that are relatively low cost and usually split with two or three other families.

    Of course, there's also tournament hotels. And endless road meals. And gasoline. And summer camps. And futsal tournaments we do on the side. And shoes. And ...
     
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  13. P.W.

    P.W. Member

    Sep 29, 2014
    $1600 -
    16 league games (8 fall/8 spring)
    3 tournaments
    training 3 times a week Fall and Spring
    training 1 time a week winter
    5 days of preseason summer camp
    separate footskills session available once every other week
    separate goalkeeper training available once a week

    Extras:
    @$50 give or take for player's share of indoor league fee (club defrays $50 if a parent donates 4 hours of time to club tournament). If you don't volunteer you'd pay @$100 for indoor league, but everyone volunteers. Exact cost depends upon where you decide to play and how many players are on the team. Basically the team foots the league bill, the club pays any coaching fees.

    $120 - $150 kit every two years (includes practice and game uniforms, socks). Backpack, warm ups available at extra cost, but optional. Practice jerseys have been the same for at least four years so you only change those out when you outgrow them.
     
  14. DaBurg

    DaBurg Member

    Apr 18, 2019
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's a bit defeatist. There's no proprietary knowledge or process. Access to facilities and insurance is a valid cost. It has to come from somewhere. But that cost is generally reasonable split up over a team or league. The rest? Honestly it's not necessary except for the highest levels, at which point the national organizations should step up. Having it based on family income is all kinds of broken.

    It's not the parent's fault. It's a failure of the recruitment structure to provide alternative discovery mechanisms. Maybe US Soccer is attempting to fix that.

    More people need to step up and fix the problem rather than just throw their hands up and say, "It's pay to play, deal with it".
     
    bigredfutbol repped this.
  15. ppierce34

    ppierce34 Member

    Aug 29, 2016
    Fort Wayne, IN
    I agree with everything you said but i'm just being realistic in my thinking. Once people smell money its hard to go back.
     
    bigredfutbol repped this.
  16. DaBurg

    DaBurg Member

    Apr 18, 2019
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't necessarily disagree with realism. My open question is whether or not to really expend a lot of money into my own kids to play the game. I'd rather spend time, which is what I'd still have to spend regardless. And maybe just tell them when they get to that point that if they want to play 'elite', they need to get so good that teams want them to play, only charging a reasonable fee. Otherwise I'm going to be very skeptical of team motivations.
     
  17. jvgnj

    jvgnj Member

    Apr 22, 2015
    I wouldn't bet on US Soccer fixing any of this. Despite public pronouncements about "the grassroots", their actions favor a narrow path where clubs wield significant power.
     
  18. sam_gordon

    sam_gordon Member+

    Feb 27, 2017
    We will be in $10K for DS by the time this year's soccer season is done. BUT, that not only includes club costs, but HS costs, ODP costs, room costs for tournaments/showcases for club & ODP, an international trip for ODP, and replacement cleats.

    By comparison, DD is <$2K. She's still with a travel team, but smaller, tournaments aren't as far, she's not in HS and not interested in ODP.
     
  19. bigredfutbol

    bigredfutbol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 5, 2000
    Woodbridge, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My son is about to turn 21 (in four days!) so this is all behind me know.

    I do often reflect on what I would have done differently, what lessons my wife and I may have learned which we would have applied to younger kids had we had any.
     
  20. DaBurg

    DaBurg Member

    Apr 18, 2019
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My heart sank.
     
  21. VolklP19

    VolklP19 Member+

    Jun 23, 2010
    Illinois
    I like how the cost is reduced when HS kicks in. Not too many clubs do that. I mean it's okay to charge the full amount at larger clubs where you may carry a club team over the course of a high school season.
     
  22. smfw

    smfw Member

    Tottenham Hotspur
    Apr 10, 2019
    Valuable experience I'm sure - so what would you have done differently for your children s soccer experience ? - and what are you glad you avoided and did do - in retrospect -
     
  23. sam_gordon

    sam_gordon Member+

    Feb 27, 2017
    Keep in mind, this was not only club, but ODP (international trip), high school, and hotel stays (a week at Disney at Christmas isn't cheap).
     
  24. mwulf67

    mwulf67 Member+

    Sep 24, 2014
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    $810 for HS Boy Spring Season…the kits is less than $100….that gets me once a week winter training, 2x a week out-door practice once the weather warms up…out of 18 scheduled, 11 were cancelled or our “coach” wasn’t there…4 tournaments, and 8 league games….

    I would gladly pay a bit more to get a little more training commitment by club/team/coach…
     
  25. bigredfutbol

    bigredfutbol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 5, 2000
    Woodbridge, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I would have waited a bit longer to go "all in." Once he made the "All Star" team which morped into a travel/club team a year later, right off the bat we signed up for every summer tournament and indoor off-season league the team did. Knowing how much soccer there was ahead of us, we probably would've been better off as a family easing into it. Another summer or two of weekend trips to national parks, maybe a season or two of basketball or some other other sport instead of indoor in the winter, etc.

    That said--those early years were the only fun ones for the family, so who knows? And in our case we got lucky--our son loves soccer still, and still plays it at as competitive a level as he can manage. But that was largely dumb luck--he wasn't a particular prodigy as a little kid, nor was he particularly competitive or notably driven. There was no reason then to think that he was different from any other kid who liked soccer but could have been burned out on it by High school by doing it too much too early. I didn't "make the right call" I just got lucky.

    Even acknowledging that in our case we didn't burn our kid out (which, to be clear, would not in any way have been a reflection on him), and that we had more fun the first two years than we ever did later--I'd still do some things differently. I'd keep my distance from other families and club politics. I'd be less of a presence. I'd worry less about how individual coaches saw our son.

    In the next life, I'll be more prepared!
     

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