Pay to play youth sports

[onlyTheObvious]

That’s true but they find a way to get the tuition down to what you’d pay at a state school. Look at the D3 schools in Iowa. 60% of the colleges are athletes. Otherwise those schools would go broke. My son could have gone and played D3 tennis but the small school wasn’t for him. As you said the 25 kids on a D1 college soccer roster are split among 9.9 scholarships. That’s why half their rosters turn over every year.

They do that for non-athletes also. DIII is ultra liberal, they are not about to cut tuition for sports athletes and not offer the same thing for singers, thespians ect. Thing is nobody pays full tuition at state schools either if you have decent grades. I had a kid go to a state school in Iowa and made money the first year. Pro tip….good at math? Declare secondary math education and the free money rolls in like water. You can change majors after a year and you don’t have to pay the money back.

I had kids play juco DIII and DI. I been around the block a little more than most.

The best opportunity IMO is Minnesota JUCO. Their rosters are considerably smaller than the Iowa junior colleges. If you want a chance to prove yourself and maybe grab a DII or DI look playing time is what you need. Minnesota is bursting at the seems when it comes to DII opportunities.

 

[littlez]

They do that for non-athletes also. DIII is ultra liberal, they are not about to cut tuition for sports athletes and not offer the same thing for singers, thespians ect. Thing is nobody pays full tuition at state schools either if you have decent grades. I had a kid go to a state school in Iowa and made money the first year. Pro tip….good at math? Declare secondary math education and the free money rolls in like water. You can change majors after a year and you don’t have to pay the money back.

I had kids play juco DIII and DI. I been around the block a little more than most.

The best opportunity IMO is Minnesota JUCO. Their rosters are considerably smaller than the Iowa junior colleges. If you want a chance to prove yourself and maybe grab a DII or DI look playing time is what you need. Minnesota is bursting at the seems when it comes to DII opportunities.

Not sure what you’re talking about with state schools. KU hardly offers much to anyone except for the very top scholars. My oldest son had really good grades with honors classes and basically nothing off. Same with all of his friends. Go get a 30 plus on the ACT and an over 4.0 might get you 5-7K off is all that’s happening here. Might be different in Iowa or Minnesota. Not sure about that.

 

[Tom Paris]

That’s great. Were those full athletic scholarships? What sports?

Older one was soccer. She got around $19,000 a year off of $33,000…all athletic. Younger one, for basketball, got $30,000 a year off of $40,000…combo of athletic and academic.

 

[Rudolph]

In a nod to a youth program doing things right:
The Waterloo Junior Golf Association is great. Your kids get paired up in tournaments throughout the summer (i believe 12 total) for $50. They can play the waterloo municipals before noon on weekdays for free. Parents can't be at the tournaments (best thing).
They treat the kids well and the kids that play in it, do well at state and getting college scholarships (not that that is the goal).

Golf is a little unique in this space. Stuff like this for golf is great.

 

[BelemNole]

Not sure what you’re talking about with state schools. KU hardly offers much to anyone except for the very top scholars. My oldest son had really good grades with honors classes and basically nothing off. Same with all of his friends. Go get a 30 plus on the ACT and an over 4.0 might get you 5-7K off is all that’s happening here. Might be different in Iowa or Minnesota. Not sure about that.

Yeah, my kid was 2nd or 3rd in his class and the break we get on his tuition in the UC program is peanuts.

 

[nolesincebirth]

Only $1000?

I wish. Club baseball is about $3k plus another $1k for winter training.

Gymnastics is almost $400 a month plus competition costs/fees.

It’s a huge financial hit.

 

[artradley]

It’s a problem, but not just the fees and costs.
We paid the annual club fees for a couple lower-income kids on my son’s travel team. Wasn’t cheap - about $1,100 each. Still, they had trouble just getting to practice and eventually dropped off after the season. That in itself was the biggest issue.

I ran the local youth wrestling program in our town for several years. Total cost was about $100 for the season, which included clothing. On our application we stated that we did not intend to deny anyone access to the sport; if they needed help they contacted me - with the assurance that nobody else would know - and I would waive the fees. We did face a similar problem sometimes with kids who did not have a reliable way to get to practice. Which was heartbreaking.

Our program ran the rec team and the travel team. I think where people really spend the money is in competitive leagues (that perhaps are for profit) and private training. The very competitive wrestlers are spending several thousand dollars each year on training and tournaments.

 

[SSG T]

In what way? I probably shouldn’t have said sub-par, but the educational opportunities opportunities at a small directional state school or 1,800 student private religious college aren’t close to a larger institution.

D2 does give athletic scholarships.

As for the D3 schools, given how much they, generally, grant in financial aid for all but the wealthiest, it's not going to cost more for most kids to go there than a state school. My son will pay far less, out of pocket, for Central than his friends that go to ISU/Iowa.

And as far as the big school v small school opportunities, you're right... if the kid is in a major in which research is a major factor. For most majors, you're not getting a significant advantage going to a big school. For many common majors, you're better off going to a small school.

It's down to what the kid wants to do and how much they are willing to pay for it.

 

[BondHawk]

That's great and the cost/benefit works out for the in-town or public leagues imo

If your kid has any talent at all (and you don't live in a smaller town where everyone plays four sports in high school), they will find the in-town/public/rec leagues to be a joke and probably give up the sport by 9th grade anyway.

Not saying I like it or that it is a good thing, but that's the way it is.

 

[artradley]

Yep. Both my kids played college sports at NAIA schools. One graduated with a Masters and about 10 k in debt. The other will double major and have zero debt…all because of scholarships. Both got recruited due to travel ball.

DII and DIII are NCAA classifications.

DII can give athletic scholarships. DIII cannot per NCAA rules.

 

[artradley]

There are plenty of scholarships available at lower levels albeit not tied to athletics. The vast majority of students receive financial aid to attend. The tuition price you see is the sticker price, almost no one pays that. Went to a D3 school and it cost me less than had I gone to Iowa three out of the 4 years I attended. As far as the subpar education/experience comment I won't even go there..

My son wanted to go to a small school - he knew he needed small classes and individual attention, and it really worked perfectly for him. He had a better GPA in college than in HS.

Initially I about fainted from the published costs. But not only did they give generous scholarships, I found you can just ask for more money and they will often give it to you! It’s like buying a house or car - you negotiate.

 

[Doodads and Hoohah]

My son wanted to go to a small school - he knew he needed small classes and individual attention, and it really worked perfectly for him. He had a better GPA in college than in HS.

Initially I about fainted from the published costs. But not only did they give generous scholarships, I found you can just ask for more money and they will often give it to you! It’s like buying a house or car - you negotiate.

Yep I got my financial aid packages, wrote a letter to each of them asking for more and they all came back and offered more.

 

[bhawk24bob]

If your kid has any talent at all (and you don't live in a smaller town where everyone plays four sports in high school), they will find the in-town/public/rec leagues to be a joke and probably give up the sport by 9th grade anyway.

Not saying I like it or that it is a good thing, but that's the way it is.

So? Let them quit the sport if competition is the driving factor. There's always something else to compete in. It's not a big deal

 

[BondHawk]

So? Let them quit the sport if competition is the driving factor. There's always something else to compete in. It's not a big deal

So let me get this straight - rather than pay a few hundred dollars so your kid can play a sport he loves at a talent-appropriate level, he should just quit and find another sport? Sounds like a fun childhood.

 

[JupiterHawk]

 

[bhawk24bob]

So let me get this straight - rather than pay a few hundred dollars so your kid can play a sport he loves at a talent-appropriate level, he should just quit and find another sport? Sounds like a fun childhood.

If the kid loves the sport, the local rec league should suffice. Does the kid love the sport enough to shovel snow or mow lawns to pay an absurdly low estimate of the cost of traveling/club sports? We both know the answer to that

 

[3boysmom]

Wrong that there are not D2 and D3 scholarships available.

There 100% are D2 scholarships available. D3 can’t offer them but D2 can. My kid has one. I won’t argue academics because his school isn’t a rigorous institution. But with the combination of baseball money and academic money it’s very affordable. Very very affordable.

 

[littlez]

If the kid loves the sport, the local rec league should suffice. Does the kid love the sport enough to shovel snow or mow lawns to pay an absurdly low estimate of the cost of traveling/club sports? We both know the answer to that

Very few (if any ) kids at a big high school just come from a rec league and make any kind of high school team, unless it’s a school that’s really short on numbers or talent. Unfortunately it’s just a fact anymore.

 

[IowaPackFan]

Youth sports have been escalating for decades with no end in sight.

When I was, say, 8-9 years old, the only organized sport for boys was little league softball (yeah, didn't even have baseball). May parents didn't even attend the games, which seemed perfectly normal at the time. Parents going out to watch their children "play"? Why?

Jesus, are you older than @LuteHawk?

 

[artradley]

There 100% are D2 scholarships available. D3 can’t offer them but D2 can. My kid has one. I won’t argue academics because his school isn’t a rigorous institution. But with the combination of baseball money and academic money it’s very affordable. Very very affordable.

We looked at some DII schools with my son. Unlike DIII, where the academics were generally higher than large public schools, it was hard to find a good DII school, at least in the East. Plus, the scholarships were VERY hard to come by. One school not only had just a couple scholarships for wrestling, they couldn’t even carry more than 20 on their roster, period. Meanwhile, they had 25 softball scholarships and couldn’t give them all away.

 

[3boysmom]

We looked at some DII schools with my son. Unlike DIII, where the academics were generally higher than large public schools, it was hard to find a good DII school, at least in the East. Plus, the scholarships were VERY hard to come by. One school not only had just a couple scholarships for wrestling, they couldn’t even carry more than 20 on their roster, period. Meanwhile, they had 25 softball scholarships and couldn’t give them all away.

He has enough scholarship money, baseball money, and tuition reduction to instate levels to pay all of his tuition, books, and give him about $900 per semester for room and board. He rents a house from a parent on the team with 3 other players and they each pay $325 per month. We pay his rent and he pays the rest during the offseason when he can work a few hours per week. We pay during the season when he can't. Honestly, even though the school isn't a great academic institution, he isn't a kid that is going to take advantage of great academic opportunities and for the most part it is the piece of paper he gets at the end that will make the biggest difference. (for him) But I agree that DIII schools are generally much better academically than DII.

 

[Tom Paris]

Parents really miss the boat when they focus on NCAA. NAIA is very comparable to D2 and there’s a lot of scholarship money there. Good educations to be had at very nice schools. I highly recommend NAIA.

 

[hawkifann]

There 100% are D2 scholarships available. D3 can’t offer them but D2 can. My kid has one. I won’t argue academics because his school isn’t a rigorous institution. But with the combination of baseball money and academic money it’s very affordable. Very very affordable.

My kid thought about D2 baseball vs. just being a student at NC St. Even without baseball, his final 3 schools for engineering were Georgia Tech, NC State and Case Western. Ultimately decided to not continue playing and is loving life at NC State.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Jesus, are you older than @LuteHawk?

Indeed.

But, you may still call me Hawk4shur, not Jesus.

 

[artradley]

for the most part it is the piece of paper he gets at the end that will make the biggest difference. (for him)

I really agree with that. There are Ivy League schools, and a handful of equivalents, where a degree pretty much sets you up for life. The rest just allow you to check a box on a resume.

 

[BondHawk]

If the kid loves the sport, the local rec league should suffice. Does the kid love the sport enough to shovel snow or mow lawns to pay an absurdly low estimate of the cost of traveling/club sports? We both know the answer to that

With this mindset, the kid will eventually end up paying more for therapy than you would have for a few years of travel ball.