equipment cost

[SoCalDad]

The flying part is what would get to me.

Last year flying was only required for two tournaments, Nationals and Sparkler/Fireworks. Living in Socal it is very easy to play a very competitive travel tournament circuit with driving only.

 

[MsDinosaur]

I'm with you on this one. DD does not wear cleats to or from the field. She does not wear her BB shoes outside of the court. These shoes take enough of a beating on the field or floor and she has plenty of bum around sneakers or crocs to wear before and after.

You guys would hate me. If I have errands to run before or after practices or games, I let my DD tromp all over in her cleats, both soccer and softball. It's going to change when she gets older, but right now she always grows out of her cleats long before she wears them out. Her two current tennis shoes, on the other hand, are all beat to h@ll and held together with shoe goo. I'm trying to get her through the winter without buying new ones. I'm hoping for lots of snow boot days. --She'll likely be another size larger by spring if we can get there.

 

[MsDinosaur]

Softball has given her an appreciation for dedication and sacrifice and all-out effort. She knows she works harder than most of her peers, and her mom and I encourage her to do just that--in the classroom, on the stage, and in the cage. When I spend money on softball, I'm investing--not in a college scholarship, but in helping a young woman build a foundation on which much of her future success will stand. If she gets a scholarship, be it academic, or musical, or athletic, great. Any one will be attributable to the time and money all of us have spent to grow the person. The time we spend together alone in the cage and with the "team family" all summer is invaluable. Any bucket dad will tell you the same thing. The real answer--Thousands. A bargain at twice the price.

Thank you, Dave. Our DD is young and we're not spending that much yet, but I know it's going to keep climbing. At least so far, it feels well worth the cost. I remember that I never learned to work hard as a kid; I wasn't in sports and school was a breeze. I can tell that she'd be able to coast through school too if she wanted to. However, through softball and other activities, my daughter is learning the value of hard work. I see her taking it as a given that she's always going to have to put forth time and effort to succeed at everything and how can you ever put a price on that?

 

[Lozza]

playball, I've always prefered Lousiville bats to Eastern. Never ever like Eastern. My current bat is a DeMarini (which I LOVE) but Louisville are always quality. My first 'real' bat was a Slugger and that lasted me 10 years before my coach took it off me. I loved that bat.

 

[pitchmom]

I also remember saying a few years back that I would never spend $200-$300 on a bat. Now, one is in my daughters bat bag as we speak. We got a good deal on her glove last season.....only spent a little over $100 on it. But, what hurt was that it either got stolen at a pitching clinic or she lost it...GRRRRR. So, we had to buy another one. And, other then the cost, we had to start all over on breaking it in.

I do know that we have learned....softball is not a cheap sport. I remember when I was a kid....you showed up to the field with an old glove that you found lying in the basement and your brothers bat and you were good to go. Maybe the parents had to buy a cheap pair of Kmart cleats.....or maybe your cousin had a pair. But.....not anymore. It is a money game.

But, I do agree with the poster that said, if you choke on the cost of the equipment.....you might wanna change sports because that is the least of our costs.

Our DD is a pitcher, so of course, we have the cost of the lessons. She just made a tournament team, so we have the....

cost of that team
the extra team wear (not the uniforms, but the sweatshirts etc that everyone will get)
the cost of the gas (the team is almost 2 hrs away so the gas cost for practices and tournents will be big)
the cost of hotel stays for the far away tournament
tournament extras.....food, tshirts for that tournament (they all have tshirt stands)


Then, on top of that...she will be playing on here league team around here (she isn't in high school yet) and that will have team fees, gas costs, etc


So, all in all.......softball in not cheap.....but to us.....it's worth every penny