Travel Ball costs

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Jul 22, 2020
46
8
A huge expense in cold climates is indoor facilities. Also, as the teams get older and seek out better competition and tournaments the entry fees rise. The JO cup tournament this weekend is around $3,000 to enter. Similar to other high level tournaments in the $2500-$3,000 range. $3500-$4000 year in fees alone is what you can expect to pay, not including travel costs.
Down in south Louisiana, winter isn't much of a problem haha. we can deal with any of our "cold days." I haven't seen any tourney prices in that range, but I have no doubt they do get that high in costs. Most expensive one we were looking at was $600 so far. We are picking up sponsors fairly well, so hopefully that keeps up!
 
Feb 10, 2018
496
93
NoVA
We have joined a nearby 14U A club that will compete mostly regionally and some locally. Cost for the season is $2500. 12 girls on team. We live in cold weather area, so the fee also covers indoor training costs for the winter. Practice on county run fields in warm weather. The $2500 does not include uniforms (three jerseys, girls supply their own pants and socks), batting helmet, or matching gear/bat bag. That will all run about an additional $250. Obviously, it also does not include any of the costs of actually traveling to tournaments (gas, hotels, meals&incidentals). You know, when I write it all down in black and white, I start feeling kind of stupid...😅

ETA: This is about 2x what we spent for our previous team, which mostly competed locally and typically had very sub-optimal winter training facilities.
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
Tough question.

Yes, that family is directly responsible for getting you money so on one hand they should get credit for that. On the other hand, it wasn't their money (and the sponsor gets some advertising and a small write-off).

Oftentimes getting a sponsor is as simple as sending a buddy a text. And if so, perhaps the parents wouldn't be expecting anything in return and are just doing a good deed for the girls. But if you know the family is a bit tight financially and are busting their butts to get sponsors, giving them a reward for doing so feels right.
I think a 50/50 proposition works well in cases like sponsorships, etc. 50% goes towards individual player account, and 50% into general team coffers. gives incentive to find sponsorships, get enough, at the prices being discussed, TB can be free!
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
We have joined a nearby 14U A club that will compete mostly regionally and some locally. Cost for the season is $2500. 12 girls on team. We live in cold weather area, so the fee also covers indoor training costs for the winter. Practice on county run fields in warm weather. The $2500 does not include uniforms (three jerseys, girls supply their own pants and socks), batting helmet, or matching gear/bat bag. That will all run about an additional $250. Obviously, it also does not include any of the costs of actually traveling to tournaments (gas, hotels, meals&incidentals). You know, when I write it all down in black and white, I start feeling kind of stupid...😅

ETA: This is about 2x what we spent for our previous team, which mostly competed locally and typically had very sub-optimal winter training facilities.
this is similar to new team we are considering joining (99% there we think, just not jinxing it), $2700 for the year, we are NE/Midatlantic, so includes indoor tranining in wintere, including P/C only practice once a week, uniforms, not certain if that figure includes helmets or bags, but it did say anything that was mandatory for the player to have (so if no helmets bags, girls I assume are free to do whatever). seems like going rate for any non parent coached teams in this area give or take.
 
Apr 26, 2015
704
43
DD's team last year (1st yr 16A in a cold weather state) ran $2400 plus about $450 for uniforms/helmets. They were supposed to play in 3 national tourneys (one got cancelled due to Covid) but they played every weekend from 5/23 to present. They will receive approx $700 back for cancelled tourneys. We travelled out of state 4 times so add in travel costs.

Her new team (18G) fees are $3000 (includes uniforms, bags, helmets). Travel costs for players are covered by the org.


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Apr 28, 2014
2,316
113
I was on the fence about posting this but wanted to share. I know that this is not universal but we live in the Northeast and most quality teams are in the $2-$3k range.
My good friend who happens to be an excellent coach decided two years ago to put together an 18u team and keep the costs very low (under $1000). He had a lot of interest and chose 12 players. By mid season some parents were not making the commitment to get the kids (16s and 17s) to tournaments. They had less skin in the game then those who wrote a larger check.
Again not universal but when people spend more they tend to follow through more often.
 
Jun 26, 2020
204
28
I was on the fence about posting this but wanted to share. I know that this is not universal but we live in the Northeast and most quality teams are in the $2-$3k range.
My good friend who happens to be an excellent coach decided two years ago to put together an 18u team and keep the costs very low (under $1000). He had a lot of interest and chose 12 players. By mid season some parents were not making the commitment to get the kids (16s and 17s) to tournaments. They had less skin in the game then those who wrote a larger check.
Again not universal but when people spend more they tend to follow through more often.
That's a very valid point. On the flip side high fees can cause a player to stick around longer because the fees are paid or they don't have enough to pay another team.
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
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).
Good post with a great topic!
Common sense could do a lot for teams keeping/gathering players!
 
Jul 14, 2018
982
93
By mid season some parents were not making the commitment to get the kids (16s and 17s) to tournaments. They had less skin in the game then those who wrote a larger check.
Again not universal but when people spend more they tend to follow through more often.


I’ve seen this a couple of times myself. It is too bad that the high cost is a barrier to some players, but that cost guarantees that the family is taking their commitment seriously.

To the OP, at 8U you should be keeping cost low and the roster size small. If you don’t need to worry about indoor space, it sounds like you’re on the right track. Fancy uniforms and matching gear are a splurge, but the girls do feel special dressing up, especially at that age. Your main goal is to teach some fundamentals and have fun at 8U. If your biggest expense is the post-game ice cream, budget for it!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jul 22, 2020
46
8
I’ve seen this a couple of times myself. It is too bad that the high cost is a barrier to some players, but that cost guarantees that the family is taking their commitment seriously.

To the OP, at 8U you should be keeping cost low and the roster size small. If you don’t need to worry about indoor space, it sounds like you’re on the right track. Fancy uniforms and matching gear are a splurge, but the girls do feel special dressing up, especially at that age. Your main goal is to teach some fundamentals and have fun at 8U. If your biggest expense is the post-game ice cream, budget for it!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wasn't aware of travel clubs charging so much for players, but I guess that does ensure the commitment is 100% there. So far we are gathering quite a few sponsors, so hopefully that will cover all the ice cream!
 

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