The True Cost of Sports

I had an article forwarded to me a few days ago, which I thought was really interesting (given the number of parents we deal with at the Academy, and the fact that I'm planning on becoming a parent someday). It is all about the 'hidden' cost of doing team sports, after you factor in the time spent chauffeuring your athlete(s) to their practices, games, and tournaments (especially if you're on a travel team or a team that can compete in national competitions!). It really opened my eyes to the commitment involved in doing even relatively cheap team sports like baseball (~$4,200 per year) or soccer (~$5,200 per year) all the way to the big guns in the industry like gymnastics (~$13k per year) and hockey (~$16k per year). Keep in mind that Ms. Lewis' calculations do not include the cost of equipment, private coaching, or any actual costs; simply the travel time.

Whether you agree with the accounting or not (maybe your time is worth more than $16 an hour), it becomes apparent that the hidden commitment for most sports is the time commitment. Factor in the fact that many children do multiple sports and sometimes the responsibility of getting to and from practices falls on one parent and it's easy to see why so many parents just like to relax in our reception area while their children all take class at the same time during one of our family training times. Basically, I have a new perspective on the challenges faced by kids and parents in doing team sports, as well as some good food for thought when it someday becomes my turn to play chauffeur to my kids.

The original article is titled "The True Cost of Being a Soccer Mom: Time = Money" and was posted on AOL's Daily Finance site. You can read it by clicking here.