Travel Ball costs

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May 6, 2015
2,397
113
does anyone think that the pandemic will make any organizations or coaches a little more cost concious, as in trying to keep costs down?

and not to hijack this thread, but the title is perfect, what are some other ways people know of to keep costs down for families, so far I have seen:

-fundraise (online team store is good way to do this, each parent is normally good for a t shirt at least, and each dad for a hat)
-sponsors
-no team issued bags
-no team issued helmets (possibly painting to match)
-no team issued pants (just tell everyone the one or two colors they must have available for games, most families will have at least one of the desired colors) (I would still do socks, as buying in bulk makes them cheap)
-use public fields for practices
-for indoor facilities where when needed, talk to them about discount for less desired time slots. parents may not like it, but if you explain, they will probably underestand. DD1s club field hockey team practices 630-9 PM on Saturdays at local turf facility (there is literally no one else there) 7 AM may be a great time to practice (and it is dress rehearsal for getting to fields at 7 for 8 am games ;))
-scrounge equipment (Play it Again, talk to parents of kids who have aged out (even non coaches many times have nets, buckets of balls, wiffles, heavy balls, etc))
-keep jerseys simple (I would always go with some type of drifit though, just dont need all sorts of fancy graphics).
 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
83
Give your parents a fundraising option to work down their costs. Optional, but team-sponsored. Most will pay out of pocket but if someone needs some help they have a way to defray.
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
Personally, part of travel (to me, my girls, the families on my team) is having matching uniforms. That makes them all feel special and feel like a team. At 8U, girls are coming from rec where they have bright pink and other colorful, crazy helmets.

Also, some of the girls actually need new helmets. Theirs are too small, perhaps not safe, etc.

For my part of the world, a fall season of rec costs $300. A spring season of rec costs $300. Our travel (for the year) was $900. So not all that much more, and we did get matching bags, matching helmets, several uniforms.

While we don't do matching cleats, several of the girls decided to get matching Ringors and so there's a bit of a desire there too. Of course it doesn't matter much at all. Just our preference.

Perhaps you ask the parents.
 
Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
People get hung up on the costs of uniforms, bags, helmets,etc but what really is costly is if you really have to travel. If you play a lot and many are out of town that can really run up some costs.
 
Apr 20, 2017
152
28
The cost can get out of control quickly but there are a few things that it’s hard to skimp on. One thing I see so many times is uniforms will be basic to keep cost down. But be sure you explore all options before just thinking dry fit shirt and miss matched pants. There are some companies that make real matching uniforms fairly cheap. And while it may not be a big deal to adults. walking out on a field at a young age and seeing the other team with all matching everything can be intimidating. There are several companies that offer good team pricing on bags and helmets. I think planning fundraisers are great and a big help to many parents. When I coached I calculated our expenses of tournaments, uniforms and field rentals. And that was the basic player fees for the season. Then we would use fundraising to get helmets and bags. The more we raised the more stuff they got. And would always use some of extra funds to pad the account.
 
Jul 22, 2020
46
8
does anyone think that the pandemic will make any organizations or coaches a little more cost concious, as in trying to keep costs down?

and not to hijack this thread, but the title is perfect, what are some other ways people know of to keep costs down for families, so far I have seen:

-fundraise (online team store is good way to do this, each parent is normally good for a t shirt at least, and each dad for a hat)
-sponsors
-no team issued bags
-no team issued helmets (possibly painting to match)
-no team issued pants (just tell everyone the one or two colors they must have available for games, most families will have at least one of the desired colors) (I would still do socks, as buying in bulk makes them cheap)
-use public fields for practices
-for indoor facilities where when needed, talk to them about discount for less desired time slots. parents may not like it, but if you explain, they will probably underestand. DD1s club field hockey team practices 630-9 PM on Saturdays at local turf facility (there is literally no one else there) 7 AM may be a great time to practice (and it is dress rehearsal for getting to fields at 7 for 8 am games ;))
-scrounge equipment (Play it Again, talk to parents of kids who have aged out (even non coaches many times have nets, buckets of balls, wiffles, heavy balls, etc))
-keep jerseys simple (I would always go with some type of drifit though, just dont need all sorts of fancy graphics).

I completely agree with most of these, if it gets more gets to play then cut out some items that don't matter when it comes to winning and losing, or learning the game. I plan on using as many public fields as possible, with basic equipment, we don't supply pants, belts or socks, and our jerseys are a lower in dri-fit, but don't have much fanciness to them.


Personally, part of travel (to me, my girls, the families on my team) is having matching uniforms. That makes them all feel special and feel like a team. At 8U, girls are coming from rec where they have bright pink and other colorful, crazy helmets.

Also, some of the girls actually need new helmets. Theirs are too small, perhaps not safe, etc.

For my part of the world, a fall season of rec costs $300. A spring season of rec costs $300. Our travel (for the year) was $900. So not all that much more, and we did get matching bags, matching helmets, several uniforms.

While we don't do matching cleats, several of the girls decided to get matching Ringors and so there's a bit of a desire there too. Of course it doesn't matter much at all. Just our preference.

Perhaps you ask the parents.

I completely understand what you mean that the girls want to match. My daughter just had to get batting gloves before the season for try-outs and then they didn't match the uniforms...so now she doesn't wear the batting gloves.
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
Last year our team color was Red. So we got red face mask, red cleats, etc. She grew out of the cleats so we went grey this time. Red cleats will look silly if she moves to a blue team. :p
 
Jun 27, 2018
291
28
My daughter loves the Wilson Promotion catchers gear. So much so that it’s her top preference and she really will wear it over something else. It’s pretty much impossible to find now, but a few years ago we could only find red in her size and she wore it on a Purple and black team. She is still wearing a maroon set with a black Schutt helmet since 9th grade. . Good thing Is her school color is maroon. Her travel team is red and black. This is probably her last set, I don’t know if it will last until the Fall of 2021. Her college team will be maroon and black.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jun 26, 2020
204
28
Fully outfitted teams sell the sizzle not the steak unless it's a fully sponsored team. We've had a lot more trouble beating rag tag team than the ones loaded out with gear. As costs go up potential players go down
 
Jul 22, 2020
46
8
My daughter loves the Wilson Promotion catchers gear. So much so that it’s her top preference and she really will wear it over something else. It’s pretty much impossible to find now, but a few years ago we could only find red in her size and she wore it on a Purple and black team. She is still wearing a maroon set with a black Schutt helmet since 9th grade. . Good thing Is her school color is maroon. Her travel team is red and black. This is probably her last set, I don’t know if it will last until the Fall of 2021. Her college team will be maroon and black.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think we are set with the organization we are with, but if things do change, she will just mismatch for a little bit! We were just informed that next season we will be changing uniforms, so I'm praying that we go with the same color scheme, haha

Last year our team color was Red. So we got red face mask, red cleats, etc. She grew out of the cleats so we went grey this time. Red cleats will look silly if she moves to a blue team. :p

Staying neutral colors are always a good way to go! Get your money out of it as well!
 

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