Youth Sports Costs

[spierceisu]

I have 2 young kids, 7 and 5, and am super excited that the young one will be out of daycare and going to kindergarten in the fall so I should be able to save quite a bit more money. I mention this to other people and they say well it just goes from daycare expenses to sports/activities costs. I know that these cost more, but it seems like all you hear about is kids doing tournaments/travel ball all the time. My neighbors are gone every weekend during the summer for baseball tournaments all over the state. There seems like there are competitions all over the place and that is the new norm even for young kids. I heard a commercial today for Des Moines softball tryouts for what I am assuming are "elite" teams that start at an 8 and under division. I can't believe that they have tryouts for specific teams at that age. Are the days of pee wee baseball with just kids from the local schools or other sports like that without having to travel all over the state done? I live in Ankeny so it is hard to believe that there isn't enough kids that they have to travel all over to play teams. I am all about kids playing sports but I really don't want to go crazy competitive and cost wise especially for super young kids. Any input from other Fanatics on this issue?

 

[AgronAlum]

We live in Ankeny and have kids 13, 6 and 4. They play through the parks and rec which is somewhere between 40-70 bucks for the season depending on the sport. There are usually a ton of teams and players, especially at that age. We are using parks and rec to see if there is a real interest in anything particular before dropping that kind of cash. The 13 year old has done parks and rec bball and soccer but hasn't wanted to dedicate enough time to justify anything else.

The only thing we've decided so far is the 6 year old might play basketball through the Ankeny Hawks basketball club this coming year. I believe it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 bucks, so still not even close to what the AAU teams are running.

IMO, casting a wider net and gauging interest is far better than dropping them in early on a team that demands nearly year round participation with a particular sport.

 

[BigTurk]

I have 2 young kids, 7 and 5, and am super excited that the young one will be out of daycare and going to kindergarten in the fall so I should be able to save quite a bit more money. I mention this to other people and they say well it just goes from daycare expenses to sports/activities costs. I know that these cost more, but it seems like all you hear about is kids doing tournaments/travel ball all the time. My neighbors are gone every weekend during the summer for baseball tournaments all over the state. There seems like there are competitions all over the place and that is the new norm even for young kids. I heard a commercial today for Des Moines softball tryouts for what I am assuming are "elite" teams that start at an 8 and under division. I can't believe that they have tryouts for specific teams at that age. Are the days of pee wee baseball with just kids from the local schools or other sports like that without having to travel all over the state done? I live in Ankeny so it is hard to believe that there isn't enough kids that they have to travel all over to play teams. I am all about kids playing sports but I really don't want to go crazy competitive and cost wise especially for super young kids. Any input from other Fanatics on this issue?

No and yes. You can still have kids play local rec league baseball, but there is a lot of pressure to join those travel teams.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

I have 2 young kids, 7 and 5, and am super excited that the young one will be out of daycare and going to kindergarten in the fall so I should be able to save quite a bit more money. I mention this to other people and they say well it just goes from daycare expenses to sports/activities costs. I know that these cost more, but it seems like all you hear about is kids doing tournaments/travel ball all the time. My neighbors are gone every weekend during the summer for baseball tournaments all over the state. There seems like there are competitions all over the place and that is the new norm even for young kids. I heard a commercial today for Des Moines softball tryouts for what I am assuming are "elite" teams that start at an 8 and under division. I can't believe that they have tryouts for specific teams at that age. Are the days of pee wee baseball with just kids from the local schools or other sports like that without having to travel all over the state done? I live in Ankeny so it is hard to believe that there isn't enough kids that they have to travel all over to play teams. I am all about kids playing sports but I really don't want to go crazy competitive and cost wise especially for super young kids. Any input from other Fanatics on this issue?

Baseball is pretty much the worst. In Ankeny you should have a rec/Little league option but kids play tournament ball at a stupid young age. The problem with tournament ball is that if your kid doesn't start at a young age it's really hard to find a landing spot. If you live in the DSM area you shouldn't have to leave the metro to play tournament ball. The teams that do this are choosing to do so because there are tournaments every single weekend and you will get all the competition you need.

 

[wxman1]

I have 2 young kids, 7 and 5, and am super excited that the young one will be out of daycare and going to kindergarten in the fall so I should be able to save quite a bit more money. I mention this to other people and they say well it just goes from daycare expenses to sports/activities costs. I know that these cost more, but it seems like all you hear about is kids doing tournaments/travel ball all the time. My neighbors are gone every weekend during the summer for baseball tournaments all over the state. There seems like there are competitions all over the place and that is the new norm even for young kids. I heard a commercial today for Des Moines softball tryouts for what I am assuming are "elite" teams that start at an 8 and under division. I can't believe that they have tryouts for specific teams at that age. Are the days of pee wee baseball with just kids from the local schools or other sports like that without having to travel all over the state done? I live in Ankeny so it is hard to believe that there isn't enough kids that they have to travel all over to play teams. I am all about kids playing sports but I really don't want to go crazy competitive and cost wise especially for super young kids. Any input from other Fanatics on this issue?

We have only done wone year of club baseball and stepped back from it this year. I would HIGHLY encourage you to keep control of the situation, We are in Linn-Mar and amazingly the Linn-Mar Youth Baseball Club is the largest in the state apparently. 10U this year he was relegated down to the lowest level team of the the age group of which there are four teams for LMYB at 10U alone, so what roughly 55-60 boys there alone. Add in teams from 2-3 non school affiliated clubs (Reds and Top Tier) and you are quickly approaching 100+ boys without factoring in at least 2-3 other school affiliated clubs.

There are other rec leagues as well but there is a SIGNIFICANT difference in competition and coaching from those to the mid to upper level club teams.

Cost wise we were on a mid-level club team last year and only had one overnight trip to DSM for the state tourney. Every other tournament we went to was within an hour or so drive of home. We were probably in the $1k-1.5k all together with team costs and travel expenses for the year for the whole family.

If you are on upper level teams expect more tournaments and to travel further. And that is on top of league games during the week. It will consume at least 3-5 days/nights a week between games, tournaments and practice.

Oh and don't forget about fall ball. If they want to do other sports they will generally be required to be dedicated to baseball from February-July.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

No and yes. You can still have kids play local rec league baseball, but there is a lot of pressure to join those travel teams.

I know very few "travel teams" that don't play all of their games in the DSM area other than Iowa State tournament that alternates between the metro and Cedar Rapids.

 

[FLYINGCYCLONE]

Waite until they play hockey in Canada, and France.

 

[clone4life82]

We live in Ankeny and have kids 13, 6 and 4. They play through the parks and rec which is somewhere between 40-70 bucks for the season depending on the sport. There are usually a ton of teams and players, especially at that age. We are using parks and rec to see if there is a real interest in anything particular before dropping that kind of cash. The 13 year old has done parks and rec bball and soccer but hasn't wanted to dedicate enough time to justify anything else.

The only thing we've decided so far is the 6 year old might play basketball through the Ankeny Hawks basketball club this coming year. I believe it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 bucks, so still not even close to what the AAU teams are running.

This! Go through with parks and rec and see if there is a desire there. If there is, for softball go to AGSA. If baseball, go to Ankeny little league. It’s the next step up however not as competitive/costly. The Ankeny hawks basketball club is good for basketball. Centennial doesn’t start until 2nd grade I believe (but hawks allow anyone to sign up). Ankeny junior football is good for flag football.

 

[cytor]

I have 2 young kids, 7 and 5, and am super excited that the young one will be out of daycare and going to kindergarten in the fall so I should be able to save quite a bit more money. I mention this to other people and they say well it just goes from daycare expenses to sports/activities costs. I know that these cost more, but it seems like all you hear about is kids doing tournaments/travel ball all the time. My neighbors are gone every weekend during the summer for baseball tournaments all over the state. There seems like there are competitions all over the place and that is the new norm even for young kids. I heard a commercial today for Des Moines softball tryouts for what I am assuming are "elite" teams that start at an 8 and under division. I can't believe that they have tryouts for specific teams at that age. Are the days of pee wee baseball with just kids from the local schools or other sports like that without having to travel all over the state done? I live in Ankeny so it is hard to believe that there isn't enough kids that they have to travel all over to play teams. I am all about kids playing sports but I really don't want to go crazy competitive and cost wise especially for super young kids. Any input from other Fanatics on this issue?

The best way to save money is to keep them out of ice hockey. It's incredibly expensive and getting ice time (especially when they are young) can mean getting out of bed at 4 or 5 am on a Saturday morning. It's a given up here in Minny.

 

[spierceisu]

I know very few "travel teams" that don't play all of their games in the DSM area other than Iowa State tournament that alternates between the metro and Cedar Rapids.

Even if I am not traveling far, it seems crazy what some of these schedules are. I am going somewhere on Sunday mornings and see people on soccer fields/baseball fields at 9 or 10 on a Sunday morning. It seems like they could at least wait until noon on a Sunday to have games. It seems like these activities are getting crazy for time consumption as well. I am not going to stop my kids from playing sports if they want to, but I just don't want these things to consume our lives and budget either.

 

[spierceisu]

This! Go through with parks and rec and see if there is a desire there. If there is, for softball go to AGSA. If baseball, go to Ankeny little league. It’s the next step up however not as competitive/costly. The Ankeny hawks basketball club is good for basketball. Centennial doesn’t start until 2nd grade I believe (but hawks allow anyone to sign up). Ankeny junior football is good for flag football.

My 7 year old son hasn't had interest in baseball yet but he hasn't been very exposed to it yet. He really likes soccer and basketball through parks and rec and I think would like to do flag football soon, but not sure. I was just wondering if parks and rec dies after age 8 or so. I don't think he will want to be that into sports so don't really want to have to do travel teams.

 

[BigTurk]

I know very few "travel teams" that don't play all of their games in the DSM area other than Iowa State tournament that alternates between the metro and Cedar Rapids.

Fair enough. My sons never played baseball so it wasn't a thing for us. My niece plays softball and volleyball is crisscrossing the state every weekend.

My youngest did youth wrestling for two years and there were youth tournaments all over the midwest and he could have wrestled every weekend if he wanted. He didn't so we didn't make him either. I am very glad that never caught on for him.

 

[BigTurk]

My 7 year old son hasn't had interest in baseball yet but he hasn't been very exposed to it yet. He really likes soccer and basketball through parks and rec and I think would like to do flag football soon, but not sure. I was just wondering if parks and rec dies after age 8 or so. I don't think he will want to be that into sports so don't really want to have to do travel teams.

My son did Ankeny flag football and I9 flag football. Very good experiences.

 

[AgronAlum]

My 7 year old son hasn't had interest in baseball yet but he hasn't been very exposed to it yet. He really likes soccer and basketball through parks and rec and I think would like to do flag football soon, but not sure. I was just wondering if parks and rec dies after age 8 or so. I don't think he will want to be that into sports so don't really want to have to do travel teams.

It doesn't. In general, it officially dies when school sports take over. They have soccer and basketball through 7th grade. There is less participation but there are still plenty of teams.

 

[Bigman38]

I'd recommend to start with the local rec league and see if there is enough enjoyment to move into something more serious. I would caution that club teams often have all the same problems a rec team does at a much higher price point and a lot of team politics.

To each their own but I can't imagine doing what I see some friends doing and basically giving up 90% of their free time and thousands of dollars on a club team. There are guys I haven't hung out with in a year because every weekend we do something they're in a different city for sports.

 

[AgronAlum]

My son did Ankeny flag football and I9 flag football. Very good experiences.

Is Ankeny flag football different that the Ankeny parks and rec flag football? My middle one is starting this fall.

 

[clone4life82]

My 7 year old son hasn't had interest in baseball yet but he hasn't been very exposed to it yet. He really likes soccer and basketball through parks and rec and I think would like to do flag football soon, but not sure. I was just wondering if parks and rec dies after age 8 or so. I don't think he will want to be that into sports so don't really want to have to do travel teams.

I can’t speak to soccer because our kids really didn’t go that route but do believe most kids migrate to Rush for soccer and do know that at a specific age, they divide into a competitive group and a rec group.

Now is a decent time to get him into Ankeny little league (it would actually be next year around January for sign up) typically your competitive USSSA travel teams will form from kids in that league but its all held at prairie trail and games are weeknights.

Basketball- parks and rec is good. Those two clubs mentioned earlier are good too.

I’ve been through it with 3 kids, have coached and can give you a few pointers if you need any.

 

[clone4life82]

Is Ankeny flag football different that the Ankeny parks and rec flag football? My middle one is starting this fall.

Ankeny junior football is a little different. Most boys lean towards AJF. Also, I9 is more geared towards running the ball where AJF is more geared towards passing (there are certain rules as to how many runs or passes you can have every 4 downs) if that makes a difference to you.

 

[ISUKing]

It really ends up dependent on interest level and team fit. My 13 year old loves baseball, wants to do it every day. We fell in with a great travel team that is family drive vs big club. The coaches are great at player development and its a no-cut team. Some of that comes at the expense of ins, but the experience is great for the kids and parents alike. I look forward to their tournaments which are all around the dsm area almost every weekend.

If we were on a big club team, only concerned with wins at the behest of experice for all the boys, id likely feel different.

 

[AgronAlum]

I can’t speak to soccer because our kids really didn’t go that route but do believe most kids migrate to Rush for soccer and do know that at a specific age, they divide into a competitive group and a rec group.

Now is a decent time to get him into Ankeny little league (it would actually be next year around January for sign up) typically your competitive USSSA travel teams will form from kids in that league but its all held at prairie trail and games are weeknights.

Basketball- parks and rec is good. Those two clubs mentioned earlier are good too.

I’ve been through it with 3 kids, have coached and can give you a few pointers if you need any.

Is there any reason to go with either Centennial or Hawks basketball club over the other? We're just planning on Hawks because it starts earlier but live in Centennial district.