concerned about where our reg fees are going

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Oct 29, 2018
28
3
I think you are entirely right to question the $700 fee with only one tournament. Plus anohter $350 for rec? You are talking about over $1000. That seems really strange to me.
However, and I am sure you would do this, approach it without the accusation that something wrong has gone on or that someone is misappropriating the money.
Maybe something like writing (or talking) to the treasurer or organization mananager, and asking, something like "Hello, I was looking at my budget and I have some questions about our softball schedule. Perhaps there has been a miscommunication. I am trying to understand why our fees are $700 this season but in the past it has been $__ and we did 3 tournaments. Could you help me understand? Maybe I am missing something. Thank you!" Something like that. I do think you have every right to understand where your significant amount of money is going.

For context: we are paying less than $500 for spring AND summer season with 7 tournaments and many extra local non-tournament games that cost money for the Umps.
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
My dd is playing on her rec league 10u travel team this spring.

What the heck is a "rec league 10U travel team"? What kind of rec team has paid coaches?

The prices I'm seeing on this thread makes me really appreciate the team that DD plays for. I know people who pay amounts like these to play in the same tournaments that we enter. We have the same brand of uniforms and matching helmets / bags as everyone else. All at a fraction of some of the prices I see here.
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
I have coached at the rec level and the travel ball level. We have always made our books open for anyone to see. We never publicized anything (I have seen orgs send their families a monthly or quarterly report), but we have always made everything very accessible for anyone that had questions. In regards to softball I only had one parent ever ask to see the books. I scheduled a meeting with that person, sat down with him, and went over every single item. He never asked again.

Years ago I also worked on the board of our local AYSO soccer league. At one time we had several parents petition to see our finances as they thought the registration fees were a bit much for a yellow shirt. What they didn't realize is that over 80% of the registration fees went to field maintenance. Between cutting the grass on 6 soccer fields, painting lines weekly, fixing and/or replacing goals, and renting port-a-potties, costs add up very quickly. We shared that information with the masses, and the questions went away.

Based on the information in the OP, the situation does seem suspicious. I do not think there is anything wrong with asking some questions, as long as it is done in a diplomatic and professional manner (not confrontational). There very well could be logical explanations for all of it. But if that is the case, they should be willing to share that information.
 
Aug 29, 2018
83
8
Maybe I’m jumping the gun thinking the president is using funds for his own kids private lessons, but now that I’ve seen all these responses and what’s included, I’m curious where the money goes. Will they continue to charge us this amount every season regardless of how many tournaments are played, no uniforms or helmets, maybe a paid coach if they can find one, sometimes they include position clinics and sometimes they don’t. It’s all just random. This is definitely the highest fee for the least provided. Dd also has to play on a rec team in the spring to play on this team now so that’s why the extra $350...but for that fee we get weekly pitching and hitting clinics. If there is a spot open, you can take after your allotted amount is used up and there’s generally spots open.

So if fees are now $700 per season, that would make this team cost $2100 per year for 10 tournaments, no uniforms, an occasional paid coach and indoor practice.lbut since I’m in California those are rarely needed. An additional $350 for mandatory spring rec league participation, and a $250-300 uniform fee.
This seems like way too much money for a non profit B level travel team affiliated with a rec league. We are in California and things cost a bit more here, but not that much morel uniforms cost the same no matter where you live. Our tournament fees range from 400-525. We don’t do any fund raisers at all, and we pay for our own travel, team parties etc.

I would like to see where the money is going if this is the new normal.



I agree each team should have their own budget and pay for their own things they need. That way if one team chooses to pay an outside coach or indoor facility, or wants to play in 6 tournaments vs. 4 etc. they can charge accordingly. This seaso. There seems to be a lot less autonomy between the teams. Our travel teams are affiliated with the overall rec league. I’m not sure in what capacity or how the rec league finances any of the travel league.

What I do know is the oeople runningnthis league are very secretive about everything and it’s difficult to get information from anyone. There always feels like a veil of secrecy vs. open honest communication, which has upset some families and they leave. Especially if their kid has talent. My dd likes playing with her fireldns for now and she is still in her last year of 10u. I will see how things go over the next few months. I’m going to be really irritated if they try to charge us some outrageous fee for the summer too.
 
Aug 29, 2018
83
8
For the parent paying $2400, are the coaches paid or parent volunteers? For that cost and only 12 tournaments per year, I assume you have paid coaches and in California. Still a better deal then what we are paying to play B ball.
 
Jul 14, 2018
982
93
You mentioned fundraising briefly, and that's probably the best way to approach your concerns. Let the league know that some parents are worried about the increased fees, and that you'd like to look into some fundraising opportunities to help out. That might get you a closer look at expenditures to see where funding is needed most.

From what you describe, it does sound like the league is using some of the "travel" funds to help pay for the rec league. If everyone in rec is welcome to take weekly hitting and pitching lessons, that money is coming from somewhere. And let's be honest -- it's the kids who are playing with the travel team who are most likely to take advantage of additional practice opportunities. There are likely a number of rec-only parents who think their funds are being wasted on professional instruction when their daughter just wants to go out and play ball with her friends on the weekend.

Is the league president using some of his budget to make sure his daughters are getting additional instruction, maybe get first crack at some team catching gear or bats? Probably. Everyone here has had to deal with coaches & coordinators giving their daughters favorable treatment on the field. The way I look at it, those people are giving a lot of their time and dealing with a lot of headaches for a very modest return. Nobody is looking at a community-based softball program as a ripe opportunity to line their pockets.
 
Dec 5, 2017
514
63
What the heck is a "rec league 10U travel team"? What kind of rec team has paid coaches?

The prices I'm seeing on this thread makes me really appreciate the team that DD plays for. I know people who pay amounts like these to play in the same tournaments that we enter. We have the same brand of uniforms and matching helmets / bags as everyone else. All at a fraction of some of the prices I see here.

It's a travel team based out of a local league and that is where the team draws from to get players. Ours started that way but we convinced the league to let us recruit from the surrounding counties as we just don't have a huge talent pool to draw from.
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
Nobody is looking at a community-based softball program as a ripe opportunity to line their pockets.

I don't know...some of the amounts I see here are pretty big. If you have...say...five teams and 12 kids per team at $150-200 per month year-round, it can quickly get into six figures.
 
May 27, 2013
2,353
113
I ran a 14U independent travel team for less than $1000 per player. That included uniforms, bags, indoor facility for winter workouts, field rental, insurance, registration fees, and 12 tourneys. Plus gate fees at Nationals. Yeah, I’d be curious to see the books as well.
 
Mar 4, 2018
126
28
For the parent paying $2400, are the coaches paid or parent volunteers? For that cost and only 12 tournaments per year, I assume you have paid coaches and in California. Still a better deal then what we are paying to play B ball.

The team my daughter plays for cost $2,400. They are most likely the best 10u in the state. The head coach is not paid but his daughter plays for free. 11 girls on the team, so the budget would be $24,000.

12 tournaments total. Tournaments cost on average $600 per tournament. Nationals cost $1,000. Call that $7,600 for tournaments.

2 sets of uniforms, probably about $300 per player. Total $3,300 for uniforms.

Scrimmage games and Round Robins will be about $1,000 for the year.

$24,000- $11,900 = $12,100 left over (Approximate)

You still need to pay for indoor training which gets expensive. We train 5 hours per week indoors January through April we will call that 16 weeks x 5 hours, which equals 80 hours. Not sure of the exact price per hour for indoor training but lets call that $100 per hour for indoor rental time. That comes to $8,000.

The organization also offers indoor hitting sessions, and catcher specific training, both of those sessions are done by paid coaches. Parents can also go into the indoor facility anytime it is not being used to practice on their own. Know idea how to put a value on that stuff.

Now we have $4,100 left over.

We still have not paid outdoor field rental for team practices in the summer and fall. I do know the organization leases two field from the park distict for the entire year. The organization can use those two fields whenever they want for practice or scrimmage games. That fee would be split between 16 teams. Lets say it is $600 per team for outdoor field rental. I am honestly just guessing at that number.

$3,500 left in the team budget.

The organization pays for equipment, balls, bownets, heavy balls, tee's, TCB balls, insurance etc. Probably another $700.

$2,800 left in team budget.

Sure I am still missing something but lets just say that the organization is making $260 per player on the team or $2,800 for the team. There is really not a lot of money left over, and the guy who is overseeing the whole organization has to spend a lot of his own time organizing everthing. My guess is that organizing everything for 16 teams is like a full time job.

Also, anytime it is raining we can mover outdoor practice indoors.
 
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