my DD was with a big org in 12U, fee's were 2K and she did another 1.5K in fundraising. probably the average on a team of 15. so roughly 52K. the team did about 10 local tourneys its around 300-500 here. that is 5K. they cut way back on indoor training and then we find out the coaches which were college girls got $100 a day on game days only x2 coaches. based on 3 game weekends even though most were 2days we are talking another 6K. towards the end of the season many parents were asking about the funds where it was going. we were told many times money stays with each team. then one of the parents found and printed out the orgs reporting. the org collect around $600k and $300K was spent on travel expenses. only two teams traveled in this org and they only had 2-3 trips a year. but the parents on those teams had to pay more for their daughters flights and hotels. i pulled my dd from this org once they put 15 on her team and cut back training. but heard from parents that any parent who asked about the accounting their kids were kicked out of the org. this org is still around but all the talent is gone and they have a reputation now all over the region. considering this org was so bold with their accounting and ways, makes me think this might be common place. this did explain why the top people in the org were always on expensive vacations.
Breakdown of costs for team
- Thread starter Mmrichard
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Another question that begs an answer. Have you ever granted "no dues" arrangement to a less than average player? Have you ever added to your roster a less than average player that can pay dues? You know, that number 14 "utility" player. LOL Many have!
Not sure why this got bogged down specifically on scholarship players but I don't see why a travel team is any more obligated to give me a breakdown of revenue and expenses than any other company I do business with. DD receives an offer to join a team, along with this offer the cost to join the team is explicitly stated. I can shop around for other teams and compare costs if I like and choose to join whichever team I believe provides the best value for the money. I don't feel I have any say over what happens to the money from that point forward and what any other customer (player) of that company pays is not my business.
When I walk into a car dealership I tell them what car I want, they give me a price and I then make a decision to purchase or not. I don't ask them to breakdown where my 50k goes and they are under no obligation to tell me what the guy who walked out before me paid for his car.
If you don't like how your team is being run you are free to find a team that provides you services more in line with your needs/wants.
When I walk into a car dealership I tell them what car I want, they give me a price and I then make a decision to purchase or not. I don't ask them to breakdown where my 50k goes and they are under no obligation to tell me what the guy who walked out before me paid for his car.
If you don't like how your team is being run you are free to find a team that provides you services more in line with your needs/wants.
You certainly don't need to see the team's finances if you don't want to. But others want to and an upstanding organization will share them.
And as mentioned earlier, if the org is non-profit (which many are), they kinda have to share finances.
- Jun 8, 2016
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I would say it depends on how the team/org does things. On our previous team we paid a monthly org fee and then a quarterly team charge for tournaments, uniforms, etc. We also did fundraisers and the money would go into our team account. Every 4 months the coach would tell everybody a fixed amount to pay, which was the same for everybody. So if you just paid that, with fundraisers and tournament cancellations etc( e.g. mechanisms which money is put back into your account), at the end of the year you would probably have (at least) a couple hundred dollars in your account. That money was not used for anything else, e.g. it wasn't used toward a team party,bags, etc, it just sat there. Multiply that for a few years on the team and you could easily have close to a grand in your team account which wasn't being used. So what we did every quarter was to ask for our balance (which came with an expense breakdown) and just paid what we needed to based upon that balance.
That said, we never asked (or needed to know) what the org fees went to. Since we probably use the indoor facility 15 times a month, I figured my 50 dollar a month org fee was worth it..
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I think the issue is partly that what you are told the tuition/dues pays for is not all delivered at once, and may change, and prices fluctuate. you might have been scheduled to play 10 tournaments this spring, but only played 4 due to whatever. I would ceertainly want to know where that approx $3k went. now if manager said we are rolling that into next season for all those that come back, ok, no problem, if you leave your decision. but everything should be accounted for.
Hmmm interesting concept.
What if after a tournament players contributions toward winning are reviewed and awarded a discount on the next monthly dues.
$50 dollars off per walk off home run or winning rbi's ?!
How about defensive game saving moments? How much discount?
Hehe just pissing off the catcher's parents lol
teams could take crack at the way DD!s field hockey club team handles finances. for each season, there is a tuition/dues fee, which covers practice facilities, equipment purchases,insurance, etc. Tournaments, you indicate which ones you are available for, and you pay for what you play in. unis are ordered as a team, but everyone pays for their own (want an extra pair of socks, np, but you pay).
Skimming off some funds for personal use and uneven allocation of funds, funnelled upward from the younger/more local teams to the older/travelling teams, is common. The norm, even. And orgs will 100% deny that it happens.
But .... they know.
So an instant way to be labelled a problem parent is to ask the coaches for financial transparency when they are not offering it.
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Ding Ding Ding
Every organization is entitled to handle this in the manner they see fit and every family is entitled to join an organization that handles it in a way that are most comfortable.
Now if they pull a bait and switch by changing the cost or what they are providing mid season that certainly entitles you to an understanding of why there is a change to your original agreement.
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