Infographic: the cost (and value) of athletic participation

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Ken Krause

Administrator
Admin
May 7, 2008
3,911
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Mundelein, IL
Ohio University has come out with a new infographic that looks at the cost as well as the ROI of playing high school sports, including fastpitch softball. It’s a great read for those of you who wonder sometimes is it all worth it. You can see the full infographic and their analysis here. As an […]
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May 15, 2016
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This only addresses high school sports. To quote the last line of the Ohio University report, "For parents who are unsure if they should spend on school sports activities, it is a good idea to take the statistics stated above to heart," it seems it might be a bit of stretch to extend the same discussion of ROI to the cost of travel ball.

I really do hope that in the long run it was worth the cost to have both my daughters are on a TB team.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
Not an expert in all sports, but I know that softball, LAX, and volleyball are all heavily dependent on TB for player development. I am not aware of any player who was recruited that only played in HS and did not participate in TB, so their math is a little "fuzzy".
 
May 17, 2012
2,804
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The Top 5 High School Sports for Boys has the wrong graphics for soccer and baseball (they are switched). It was hard to focus after that.
 

Ken Krause

Administrator
Admin
May 7, 2008
3,911
113
Mundelein, IL
I make no claim to the quality of their work. ;) I have enough to keep me busy looking for my own typos.

For me, the cost part wasn't as relevant as the part below about the "soft" benefits. It's nice to think the kids who played sports will make more money later in life. Kind of a long-term gift.

Yes, the costs in the infographic are only for high school, and I agree with JAD that club sports are where the development happens for the most part. Well, that and individual lessons of course. That's where you have the time to make meaningful changes. The run-up to a high school season is so short that it's tough to teach anybody anything in terms of technique without taking a chance on screwing them up. I suppose if you really know what you're doing, like Cannonball, you can, but that's not the majority. So in high school the focus needs to be on working with what you have and finding a way to win with that rather than making the team into what you wish it was. Although many still try.
 

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