re: The soaring price of youth sports: $50 to try out, $3,000 to play

You are correct, especially in small towns where there may only be a few decent players per age group.

Happened with both my boys, even though I swore up and down I wouldnt let em do travel ball till they were 12. But they both got tired of not even being able to play catch with anyone on their REC team.

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You are correct, especially in small towns where there may only be a few decent players per age group. Happened with both my boys, even though I swore up and down I wouldnt let em do travel ball till they were 12. But they both got tired of not even being able to play catch with anyone on their REC team.

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Something similar happened this fall with my daughter. She had always played up with some girls in our small town but they didn’t have enough to field a volleyball team for club season. We are driving twice a week to San Antonio for a bigger club and she made the national team for the age above her class. It’s been great for her as she is getting the level of coaching and play she’s always wanted. Time spent with her on the road has brought us closer and it’s doable given she is our youngest and only remaining child at home. It’s been a blast watching her chase her dreams.

We’ll stop if/when it becomes too much or she doesn’t enjoy it.

I am in exact same boat. I swore no way we play travel baseball and like you said we ended up doing it. I totally understand not even being able to play catch with half of his team.

Cooperstown is the one travel event that I will always say is worth it.

I went when I was 12 and it was one of the coolest baseball weeks of my life. Lost in the semi finals because Brendan McKay (Louisville two way 1B/SP golden spikes winner and #4 overall draft pick) threw against us and hit a walk off home run in extras.

While this team was technically part of a park system, we were the select team (I guess you'd call it) that didn't play any rec ball. We raised money for the trip by hosting a tournament and eliciting donations at the concession stand. Pretty standard stuff. Wealthy parents were able to pick up the rest.

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Dreams Park also has no grading and separation of teams by ability

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That's kind of the whole point of the extended pool play.

Don't sweat it. Jaaxxstun can pay you back when he signs that bonus with the Yankees right out of high school.

If they want to get recruited by the SEC, they need to play in Ruston, LA.

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Super Slam- Turf Warz Classic III
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Grand Slam Sports

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ruston sports complex facilities

a $500 bat? think I found the problem

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WTF? this is INSANE

The soaring price of youth sports: $50 to try out, $3,000 to play



Lindsey Rector added up the costs as she waited for her son to finish his baseball lesson.

That was $60 a week right there. A new bat: $500. His club baseball team in Boynton Beach, Florida, and its three practices a week were $3,000 a year. Out-of-town tournaments cost extra. Last summer, the team traveled to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This summer, it will be Cooperstown, New York. She figures she spends at least $8,000 a year on baseball for her 12-year-old son, Cruz Thorpe.



She knows he loves the game. She’s less certain she can afford it.

“You’re just trying to do everything you can to make these dreams come true for your child,” Rector said. “But it’s just so money-driven.”

She even tried a GoFundMe campaign to raise some of the $4,000 she’ll need to reach Cooperstown Dreams Park, where preteen baseball teams from across the country flock each summer for weekly tournaments. A single mom working for an online education platform, she felt a little guilty asking for help. But she’s not alone: GoFundMe said “competition travel” was the top sports fundraising cause in 2025.

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Your kid will be absolutely fine without travel ball, honey. As well as numerous other things that do nothing but promote the idea that you can't be a human unless you got more than the others.

It’s all out of control. I played travel sports growing up and spent 7-8 years at stupid tournaments in a hotel over the weekend etc etc. I can’t imagine how expensive that would be today. I want to spend time doing other things with my wife and kids. Traveling, hunting, fishing or just nothing. I don’t want our weekends tied up a some stupid sports tournament when we all know less than 1% of kids do anything with it. Not to mention the injuries some I know struggle with just from playing high school football. Seriously?