re: What is the cheapest child sport

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You already know the answer to that. Not a dime of the thousands I pay a month in child support is going into a 529

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Reminder baws: be careful who you put it in to

Swimming has to be cheap, right?

Wouldn't it be football since there is no "travel ball" - at least to my knowledge. Almost every other sport has enormous expenses outside of actually playing the sport itself. My daughter played basketball and gymnastics. Both were very expensive with all the travel to tournaments and meets across states.

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If you want your child to have a career you gotta pay.

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Career? In pro sports?

Is your child at least 6'2" and able to hit about 10-15 different performance standards like sprints, throwing speed, etc... and then one in 16,000 high school athletes get a pro sports contract, and that includes ANY pro sports such as minor league baseball at $36k/year, womens soccer, third world basketball...

Travel ball baws make me laugh "JAXTON FINNA PLAY FOR THE YANKEES" ok sure bud.

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Gotta be football since there are not any (for the most part) travel teams.

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Would depend on if you have to buy or rent the pads yourself. I know the rec league here in town offers rental helmet and shoulder pads for $150 for the season. Not crazy but a decent chunk of money for someone pinching pennies.

Gymnastics is by far the most expensive. I almost choked when i added up all the payments we made last year between the classes and the competitions

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Has to be basketball.

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Not really. A lot of travel involved on AAU national teams. Most of the in-state tournaments are in the DFW area. I live right outside of San Antonio. National (live period) tournaments in PA, KY, and OH this season.

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I would think soccer.

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You’d think wrong lol

Me too and I have 20/20 vision.

Too funny.

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Travel ball soccer is pretty expensive.

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I’m sure it is. But what exactly is the OP’s question? Cheapest child sport to get them into to get them moving, learning to become part of a team, meeting new friends, etc…or cheapest to get them into if you want them to one day excel in? And how old is the child?

If the child is younger (5-6), I’d say get them into as many rec league sports as time—and their interest—allows. I’m a big believer in playing multiple sports for as long as you can. Almost all sports translate physically, especially when you’re younger. (Ex. playing soccer and those movements and “foot-eye” coordination helps you become a better basketball player, helps you become a better football player, etc…).

I know that a lot of towns/cities have terrible rec league sports now, if they have them at all. But a lot still do, and for a young child, they are mostly year round. Soccer, t-ball/baseball, flag football, basketball, etc…And at a young age, most shouldn’t cost a whole lot more than the registration fee and the uniform. Gloves for kids are cheap.

But if you have to pick one, and without the longterm goal of them becoming a professional or getting a college scholarship, whatever, I think soccer is the best and most translatable to other sports. It’s great for conditioning, both long distance and sprinting, change of direction, playing with a team (passing back and forth, etc…), and “foot/hand-eye” coordination. We didn’t have it in NLA when I grew up, but my son played it when he was 3-4 in both EBR and Ascension Parishes, and watching it, I wished I had it played it growing up. For a little while at least. It didn’t stick for my son, but without question helped him become a better basketball, baseball, and football player when he got older. The skills translate.

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Stick and rock

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With the price of paper and scissors, completely agree.