I hear what you are saying BYU and I agree with you wholeheartedly. I am just telling you what is being said in the stands while you are on the sidelines.
Another factor that needs to be included in this is the expected return on investment that many parents have. I don't mean to pick on baseball but it is the only one I can speak to intimately today. This is from the below article
How Much Does Travel Baseball Cost? (Complete Overview) – Sports Warrior 365
Quote:
How Much Does Travel Baseball Cost
The total team cost will range from $3,000 to close to $20,000 not including hotels and other costs associated with the season. Families will pay somewhere between $300 and $4000 for their kid to play travel baseball.
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FYI I saw that $4000 number in another article specifically for U9 travel ball in 2011. So I feel like that number may be low. We spent about $1500 between hotels, food and gas just on four tournaments this summer. In three of those tournaments my son was a guest pitcher so he did not pay the team or tournament fees and one of those we were able to drive home in between pitching appearances. Add in private hitting, pitching and catching lessons that are offered all over the place outside of the travel ball setup which I have seen cost from $40-$200 per lesson, and player showcases that players are invited to or in some cases invite themselves to. I have no idea of the cost of the showcases.
When I did the paperwork for my son to be able to play sports in high school, I requested info about college recruiting. Well I checked a box on the screen because why not. Next thing I know, I am on a call with a rep from the recruiting service and I am being offered an opportunity to sign up what I call the recruiting LinkedIn. I have the free account already but for as little as a $1200 one time payment ($1440 if you do a payment plan) I can upgrade to the Champion level membership. For $3700 ($4950 for payment plan) I can upgrade to the MVP level membership. The boy has has not even tried out for the JV team. Why the hell would I do that?
I can't imagine what kind of an asshole I would be if I invested that much money into the my son's youth sports career and have his Perfect Game statistics ruined because of a crappy umpire. #sarcasm