John Woods’ family of four boys has grown up playing competitive sports in Cobb County and Atlanta. As they develop as athletes, the costs of competition rise. Woods already is paying the price for recreation play, and he knows it will continue through high school.
My twin stepsons, Daron and Zack Blaylock, were 9 when I married their mom, Janelle, 10 years ago. They are now playing football at Kentucky, after playing youth sports, including baseball and AAU basketball. Their brother, Dominick Blaylock, 13, is a rising seventh-grader who plays football and baseball. Youngest brother Ashton Woods, 7, is a rising second-grader who pitches and plays shortstop and will start football next year. They are, or have been, involved at Chastain Park in the Northside Youth Organization.
Everything has a risk and reward. We want to give our children the best resources. To play on the best travel teams is about $3,000. That pays coaches, field maintenances, umpires, tournament entry fees, etc. That cost does not include hitting instruction, which can range from $45 an hour to $250 an hour. Travel costs are extra. Some parents do work extra jobs so their kids can play.
Recreational leagues have scholarships for players who can’t afford the fees, which are about $300 to $500 a season. On travel teams, scholarships help recruit great players. If you are not good enough to get a scholarship and can’t afford the fees, you can get left out. At that point it’s the haves and have-nots.
The value depends on how you measure. A parent who wants to get a scholarship finds that baseball is the worst sport to do that, because a college coach will take 12 scholarships and divide them up. Some parents think their kid is their meal ticket to a pro contract. To us, financially it’s worth it if you want your child to compete at the highest level and build character, teamwork and discipline that will carry over into business. If you’re knocked down, you learn to get up.
Football is a better bet for a college scholarship. Our twins had 26 offers. Getting them to that level can be expensive. There’s speed work, plyometric training, strength training. Which we have found an effective and inexpensive system called SpeedTracs. Some recruiting services charge $3,000 to get a kid on their website because marketing and exposure is so important. In the summer there are 7-on-7 leagues. Go into a health food store like GNC and you can’t get out of there without spending $60 on some protein powder.
One sport my boys don’t play is lacrosse. What those families have to pay is unbelievable. It’s double what football is.
