JJ, what is the total per year for your oldest soon-to-be collegiate superstar?
Sticker shock
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Sounds like my DD HS way of doing things.
JJsqueeze
Dad, Husband....legend
$3500 in dues and startup fees. But she is not destined to be a college star...she will be making the coach of a DII or DIII team at a school with great academics in her field of study very happy though
I guess it depends what the fees cover- is it everything but travel and hotels?
I even don't mind paying through the HS season if it is just installments for the whole year budget which is clearly set out. Not if I am paying for someone else - especially since there is bound to be SOME player movement who always seem to get away with paying some sort of pro-rated amount.
Also our younger teams don't subsidize our older teams - but our fundraising and sponsorship money is proportionally directed that way. Parents seem to like that - that the money coming directly out of their pocket is going to the team their DD is on plus fundraising money we generate (which comes through tournament hosting so is not a lot of time commitment).
Here I go again, being a "old school backward thinker" I am fortunate enough to be friends (close with a few) with a group of retired (not old) MLB STUDS (Two WS MVP's). I have sat down with them and asked a lot of questions (probably too many) about their personal path to MLB and what they feel is the best (Best being: cost effective, player improvement, chance of being seen) way to achieve personal goals in the sport. (some DD's goals may differ) A couple of them coach in youth sports and a few just help out. The two WS MVP's both have kids in baseball & softball and said this is how they are choosing do it. Instead of playing TB they are spending their $$ (and they have lots of it!) with personal one-on-one coaches! They feel this is the quickest way for their kids to get better and learn the correct ways to play the position. They also spend a lot of time (because they can) doing repetition work during the week on lessons learned by their coaches. One had said to me that "he doesn't understand why parents spend so much $$ on TB and not "one-on-one lessons"? Sounds good to me! Both of these guys came from really small colleges and were scouted at their college games. They did not play TB and both had outside coaches during the week. (On a side note I have seen both of their kids play school ball and they are OUTSTANDING players and very disciplined! GO AHEAD AND LET THE RIPPING BEGIN :0)
I have seen both of their kids play school ball and they are OUTSTANDING players and very disciplined! GO AHEAD AND LET THE RIPPING BEGIN :0)
That does seem high JJ, but you are in a different part of the country and part of a completely different type of organization. We pay less than $200/month for DD's team, pitching lessons, and hitting lessons. Luckily DDs hitting coach lives in the same house with her, so the fee is low
I thought the point of sports was to *play* the game...not have someone like FFS or rdbass say, "Wow, she looks great hitting off a tee."
Not that it isn't great to hear a coach give positive feedback...but, the whole point of sports is to challenge another person/team in an activity to find out who is better. And, that winning or losing are both valuable experiences, teaching the participants about not only the specific game but also about life.
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One had said to me that "he doesn't understand why parents spend so much $$ on TB and not "one-on-one lessons"? Sounds good to me! Both of these guys came from really small colleges and were scouted at their college games. They did not play TB and both had outside coaches during the week. (On a side note
It is not ripping, but that they are MLB studs, so they have they have the ability to use that to their kids advantage. When a kid is the son/daughter of a great athlete, they can step in whenever and wherever they want because of their parents reputation and if they are an elite athlete through genetics as well, well they have that as well. Same with younger siblings of outstanding older siblings. Even when people find out I played D1 basketball, it makes people look at my DD differently.
I was not the kid of great athletes. I missed out on at least 2-3 major opportunities that went to the kid of the local professional team coach even though I believe I was better at the time. I used to be mad at the kid, but it wasn't him - it was his parent looking out for him. As a parent now, I understand that now.
Usually because guys at that level are terrible coaches. I told this story before...but a couple of my MLB friends got a lesson from Willie Mays. They said it was a waste of time. Willie wasn't analytic about hitting...i.e., "they throw the ball, and I hit the ball."
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