My son has used Akadema since he was 9 or 10. He normally gets at least 2 HS seasons....and a summer (50 games) out of one...and could go longer, but he always seems to talk me into letting him get a new one sooner than he really needs. I guess I don't mind....I'd rather spend money on a new mitt than have him blowing $60 on new video games....lol
I could never get my son to go with anything like a $60 glove. . . .though I often tried to get him to do so. I would limit how much I was willing to spend on him for a new glove, but then he'd take the difference an pay from his saving or Christmas cash to get his very expensive top of the line gloves he insisted on. I wasn't going to try and control how much he spent of his own money on gloves or anything else and over time he's learned to be more prudent with his money. I had hoped his expensive gloves would last much more than a year, and they can and do. . .but he insists on a fresh glove to start a season. Well, still buys the most expensive gloves, but now he manages to find ways to get deep discounts.
PS: . . . same thing with bats. ;-)