Bring Your Wallet

Then there's major items like travel ball fees (Summer & Fall), travel expenses, hotels and food during tournaments, showcases plus other needs like wood bats, turf shoes etc. Seems never ending.... 

Some things I get...like a catcher’s helmet. You want something with excellent protection and it's going to last for several years.

The shin guards kill me. We're lucky to get 12 months out of them. Maybe 18. But it seems like they should cost closer to $150 based on their lifespan.

Don't even get me started on wood bats.

Oh yes it’s super expensive! It’s like broke life is real playing baseball ⚾️!

This is the difference.  Some who complained about how much baseball and travel baseball cost is because of the choices they make. Most I ever paid for a bat was $99. And I would never consider paying that amount for catchers gear or a catchers mitt when every year if they have clearance sales during the off-season.  Cheap sunglasses allow you to see just as good as the $180 Oakley‘s.

When it comes to travel we always looked for the best deal and very rarely stayed with the rest of the team did

I thought about trying to break down what it costs me now in food and supplements. Probably close to $40-45/day pro protein bars, shakes, smoothies, and other supps. Then add in the grocery bill for actually eating healthy foods.

I guess you could add in $300 (just increased to 350)/month for gym membership with trainers. Then various lessons ranging from $40-70/each.

The equipment cost doesn’t bother me much. I’ve gotten good about selling old gear to offset the cost of new gear. Some of it anyway. Gloves will fetch a nice resale price if they are in decent condition. Catcher gear probably gets the least resale value. I’ve even sold used cleats in the past.

My son trains at the same place for over 5 years now. I have NOTHING to say about that experience other than wonderful things. Going there was one of the best decisions ever made and there's no doubt that he wouldn't be where he is without it.

That said, it ain't cheap. When he joined in 2016, it was around $160 a month. And, at that time, I thought I was out of my mind and would never tell anyone how much it was...

Well, like everything else, prices go up and it's now $250 a month after seeing increases every year.

He's ALWAYS there and puts in hours and hours on his training. Even at $250 a month it breaks down to less than $10 an hour when you start toying with the numbers. And, again, he gets SO MUCH out of it any MANY different levels.

But, the fact that $3,000 of my disposal income goes towards a gym membership for my kid is the same reason why I've been wearing the same winter coat for the last 16 years that I bought on sale at Kohls.

My friends with non-athletic kids are spending their weekends on the water in the new boats that they just bought. I'm driving to tournaments in the 2016 car that I bought used in 2019 so that I could give my daughter my 2004 when she got her license.

But, it's my decision.

It’s gauche to itemize and brag how much you spend on a sport or any other item you purchase.  Baseball can be expensive is sufficient. There are other sports that are expensive. Another choice is don’t play.

When I was putting together a travel team and cost justifying the benefits to parents accustomed to paying for LL and local town travel one parent responded, “We spend that in two weekends on hockey.”

Want to spend some money? Take up competitive freestyle skiing and lessons. It makes baseball look like a penny ante hobby.

Want to spend some serious money. Send your kid to IMG for school and any sport. It was 60K per year for tennis fifteen years ago.

@Francis7 posted:

My son trains at the same place for over 5 years now. I have NOTHING to say about that experience other than wonderful things. Going there was one of the best decisions ever made and there's no doubt that he wouldn't be where he is without it.

That said, it ain't cheap. When he joined in 2016, it was around $160 a month. And, at that time, I thought I was out of my mind and would never tell anyone how much it was...

Well, like everything else, prices go up and it's now $250 a month after seeing increases every year.

He's ALWAYS there and puts in hours and hours on his training. Even at $250 a month it breaks down to less than $10 an hour when you start toying with the numbers. And, again, he gets SO MUCH out of it any MANY different levels.

But, the fact that $3,000 of my disposal income goes towards a gym membership for my kid is the same reason why I've been wearing the same winter coat for the last 16 years that I bought on sale at Kohls.

My friends with non-athletic kids are spending their weekends on the water in the new boats that they just bought. I'm driving to tournaments in the 2016 car that I bought used in 2019 so that I could give my daughter my 2004 when she got her license.

But, it's my decision.

$250 per month? Wow, that's insane...

The fact that $3,000 of my disposal income goes towards a gym membership for my kid is the same reason why I've been wearing the same winter coat for the last 16 years that I bought on sale at Kohls.

I’ve worn the same two ski jackets for twenty-five years because they’re well made. I purchased both on sale. What’s your point?

@RJM - that people choose where to spend money at their discretion

@fly996 posted:

$250 per month? Wow, that's insane...

It's not your typical gym. They have the full blown suite of weight training, etc., equipment for sure.

But, they also have cages with hack attacks and rapsodo and all the other tech. And, they have a 10,000 square foot indoor turf area for running and throwing, etc.

And, you go as much as you want. There are days where he's been there for 5 hours. Also, since he's been there so long and older now, he can go there when they are closed and work out with any of the older guys who have a key.

It's a mix there. The younger kids are shepherded. But there's HS guys and college and pro guys in the offseason. He's there training with the college and pros in the offseason.

So, yeah, $58 a week to train seems like a lot. But, I could spend the same taking the family to Houlihan's on Saturday for lunch and easily spend $60 - and we're all flushing that down the morning after. There's a much better return on investment on the gym membership.

@Francis7 posted:

@RJM - that people choose where to spend money at their discretion

But they don’t brag about it. Or act like a victim. As for return on investment I never looked for it. Almost all training I paid for was for the benefit of their play in the moment. The only exception was sixty training. But it wasn’t long term and expensive. I wasn’t looking for a payback in athletic scholarship money. Although both kids got it.

My kid will be a PO in college. He still hits in HS and needs to use a wood bat. He came home a few weeks ago and wanted to replace a wood bat. Told hime to go dig around in the basement for various wood bats we've collected over the years. Not spending the $130 he wanted on a new wood bat.

We've been very very lucky with training with both kids. Both did strength training at a place like Francis described. The owner charges a ridiculously low price for the athletes he trains. About industry standard for his gen pop clients. Even with my 2020 up at college with a strength coach, we still pay him because my son speaks with him several times a week. He's been great over the years and I believe one of the main reasons my kids are playing college ball.

This year my 2022 started training at the same place he does his pitching. Ex Cressey employee runs the strength training. He's there 5-6 days a week. They approached me to trade photography for his fees. Has worked out great.

As far as costs go, at least for pitchers a good training facility is probably the best money spent.

When my kids did travel, I always used various CC rewards and points to help offset costs. If you research, and plan well you can offset a lot of hotel and travel costs. We always told our travel program we weren't booking through PG, etc.

@RJM- wasn't bragging or complaining...just saying that baseball is a very expensive sport. (Not to imply some others are not too.)

I also think it depends on position. Someone who is a PO doesn't need a bat and can use the same glove for years.

@PitchingFan posted:

This is the difference.  Some who complained about how much baseball and travel baseball cost is because of the choices they make. Most I ever paid for a bat was $99. And I would never consider paying that amount for catchers gear or a catchers mitt when every year if they have clearance sales during the off-season.  Cheap sunglasses allow you to see just as good as the $180 Oakley‘s.

When it comes to travel we always looked for the best deal and very rarely stayed with the rest of the team did

I always got everything on sale, however, I know prices have gone up. Bat for $99?  Maybe 12u or below. If using a $99 bat, may end up as a PO🤣

It doesn't have to cost you that much. Those are choices.

It was a $380 bat on clearance at Academy.   You just have to look during off-season

I kinda was wondering WTF at the $130 for spikes….

@Senna posted:

I kinda was wondering WTF at the $130 for spikes….

Same here. Most of the brand new models I see are $90

@Senna posted:

I kinda was wondering WTF at the $130 for spikes….

New Balance FuelCell 4040 v6 Trophy Men's $129.99

@Francis7 posted:

New Balance FuelCell 4040 v6 Trophy Men's $129.99

No offense, but you need to work on your penny pinching. 5 seconds on Google found metals 4040 v6 for $105, molded for $90. Trophy has zero differences other than appearance from what I can see.

Saying this as a catcher dad who also has to throw some $ at the protective gear, and also has a son with size 15 feet (and XL legs). So we have to work hard to find gear that fits at a price that fits.

Thanks. Luckily I have yet to buy anything.

the good news folks is when they get to college the baseball bills stop...of course they are replaced with tuition unless your boy is one of the unicorns getting 100%!

Being rich wont make you happy but it makes being happy easier!!

Yes it is expensive and luckily there are ways to find savings as the good folks here provided examples. Training facilities have evolved and I used to snicker years ago when reading what the big brand baseball facilities would charge. For my 17 yo kid, he physically matured earlier than I expected and these facilities not only provided infrastructure, they were key in developing not only the physical skills but also how to manage the heavy mental aspect of the game (burn out, disappointment, bounce back from injuries), maturity and provided a positive peer competitive environment that will be the norm as he progresses to college baseball.  Now if my kid was not a prospect, it would be an impossible investment for me to rationalize, and getting the senior partner's (wife) approval? Fuhgeddaboutit.  The kid's current facility was beyond helpful with his surgical recovery and shocking stays in constant contact with the ortho to ensure he has the best path for full recovery and rehab. They are his partner and mentor on his development and to me and the wife partially, find it well worth it given the results we've seen. They are part of the crazy baseball prospect industrial complex (showcases, social media promotion, regional branding, etc) and this is normal if you look at it through the lens of a teenage prospect (still SMH on this, but I am from the "get off my lawn" generation).  I will be guardedly optimistic about old_school's statement that the baseball bill will stop. 

How one choses to spends his own money is irrelevant.

How baseball continues to lose some of its top athletes (due to parental wallet size) is far more concerning to me.

@ReluctantO'sFan posted:

How one choses to spends his own money is irrelevant.

How baseball continues to lose some of its top athletes (due to parental wallet size) is far more concerning to me.

I don't think this is as big of a problem as people make it out to be. At least not in FL. Kids just choose other sports. Pressure from family or friends to play football or basketball has more to do with it than money. These sports are expensive too. There are lots of programs at the youth levels that let kids in need play for free. If these kids are good enough for a travel team, the team figures out how to let them play for free. At the older ages there are lots of free teams (including travel). Heck, there are even teams that will pay the families to have certain kids for big tournaments.

You can reduce costs by moving to a baseball region, say Florida or Texas.

More playing time and a host of opportunities, if your kid is a “prospect.”

We were a Hockey family first, so the switch to 100% baseball as a HS Frosh brought tears to my eyes for multiple reasons. Travel and Costs for baseball were a deep discount.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

I don't think this is as big of a problem as people make it out to be. At least not in FL. Kids just choose other sports. Pressure from family or friends to play football or basketball has more to do with it than money. These sports are expensive too. There are lots of programs at the youth levels that let kids in need play for free. If these kids are good enough for a travel team, the team figures out how to let them play for free. At the older ages there are lots of free teams (including travel). Heck, there are even teams that will pay the families to have certain kids for big tournaments.

I personally know a kid that was tapped on the shoulder by the high school athletic director, and directly told to focus on football.  The reason was centered around his family's financial ability to send him to college. He ended up getting a full ride to a P5 D1 school. This child would NOT have been able to attend the same school if he played baseball. That is an absolute fact. May not be the case for the average person/player, but I've personally seen baseball lose out on top prospects. Baseball is becoming a country club sport whether you want to believe it or not.

@ReluctantO'sFan posted:

I personally know a kid that was tapped on the shoulder by the high school athletic director, and directly told to focus on football.  The reason was centered around his family's financial ability to send him to college. He ended up getting a full ride to a P5 D1 school. This child would NOT have been able to attend the same school if he played baseball. That is an absolute fact. May not be the case for the average person/player, but I've personally seen baseball lose out on top prospects. Baseball is becoming a country club sport whether you want to believe it or not.

Ok, I see where you're going. I was looking at it mostly from the younger ages and the cost to play baseball and not the cost to pay for college.

I've told people for years baseball can be expensive but it can also be cheap (in relative terms) if you work at it.  I always bought son's cleats, bats, pants, and other gear including catching gear (yes he is a LHP but in HS and early in travel caught) during the off season and saved crazy amounts of money.  If you search the clearance sections of the sporting goods stores and internet you can find cleats for less than $20 and catching gear at incredible prices.  Bought bats cheap (last year's model hit just as well as this years).  I always found the best deals on motels, rarely stayed with team but that was okay.

I will say that I was blessed having two LHP's because teams needed them more than we needed the teams.  Played in an incredible amount of PG and WWBA tournaments at little to no cost (normally only the teams that had to buy a jersey for them).  Got connected with Kansas City Royals Scout Team and it was essentially free for last two years for everyone.

This is why I am so adamant about doing homework and get frustrated with parents who don't do it and get burnt.  I always did homework on every team that wanted him to play to see if they were backing up their offers.  Did research on about 100 colleges throughout the years of recruiting and who knows how many coaches.

It can be expensive but you can do it cheaper and still get the end result.

News flash....kids, education and life are expensive no matter what you do.

My wife and I were always willing to "bring our wallets" for activities that our kids got invested in.  Baseball did that for all 3 of my sons.   I don't mind shelling out some well-thought-out discretionary bucks if I know my kid(s) loves what he is doing and he is focused on it.  None of my kids had to have the latest bat, mitt, or sunglasses.  Last years models were fine, and they were required to contribute to the purchase.   This ensures it will be taken care of.   Other sports like lacrosse and others we bought used equipment simply because we didn't know if they'd stick with it.  No money tree in our back yard.

As always, JMO.

Well I still paid less to get my kid into a top 25 school than Lori Laughlin and Felicity Huffman paid to get their daughters into USC= good investment . (kidding)

I don’t post here much anymore. But I will agree with FS, whatever money I spent on my son growing up was more than worth it. I think the people that are going to get disappointed are the ones that are spending money and assuming that it is an “investment”. Time investment, yes I agree. But to assume if you spend X amount your kid will have a better chance to get a scholarship or professional opportunity is setting you up for failure, IMHO.  Talent is ALWAYS the trump card. Training obviously helps, but it will never make up for the lack of talent. The cost do go down in college BUT if your son is one of the lucky ones to play professionally, those cost go up so much you can’t believe it until you are there. It will help now that teams are required to provide housing. But off season training is so very expensive and they aren’t paid for spring training. They do get small stipends that help but it, in no way, covers all the costs. But the guys learn to do what it takes. They get jobs the couple months they are off. It will not cover the entire season, but it does help. In the end, mom and dad are gonna supplement the kids life during the minor league years. If someone has been there and has a different perspective, I would love to hear about it and maybe learn some tricks. In the end, I WOULD NOT CHANGE A SINGLE THING.  We spent so much quality time together traveling and got to experience things I would never have seen without baseball. How can I put a price on that?  Just one guys perspective.

I would agree that there are things that are more than worth the money.

I mentioned the arrangement and cost of my son's training facility. What I didn't mentioned was that it's his home away from home. (Should be...since he's there 5 to 6 days a week and there for 2 to 5 hours when he's there.) It's also his where he's surrounded by individuals like him who have become his closest friends. And, because he's been there so long that the trainers treat him like a son or younger brother.

I would rather pay for him to have access to this rather than save money and have him sitting in front of the Xbox all day at home or setting a dumpster on fire behind the Walmart because him and his friends are bored. (He's never done either of those but I have friends with sons who do it.)

@ReluctantO'sFan posted:

I personally know a kid that was tapped on the shoulder by the high school athletic director, and directly told to focus on football.  The reason was centered around his family's financial ability to send him to college. He ended up getting a full ride to a P5 D1 school. This child would NOT have been able to attend the same school if he played baseball. That is an absolute fact. May not be the case for the average person/player, but I've personally seen baseball lose out on top prospects. Baseball is becoming a country club sport whether you want to believe it or not.

There sure seem to be a lot of poor Caribbean players in the country club.

@Francis7 posted:

I would agree that there are things that are more than worth the money.

I mentioned the arrangement and cost of my son's training facility. What I didn't mentioned was that it's his home away from home. (Should be...since he's there 5 to 6 days a week and there for 2 to 5 hours when he's there.) It's also his where he's surrounded by individuals like him who have become his closest friends. And, because he's been there so long that the trainers treat him like a son or younger brother.

I would rather pay for him to have access to this rather than save money and have him sitting in front of the Xbox all day at home or setting a dumpster on fire behind the Walmart because him and his friends are bored. (He's never done either of those but I have friends with sons who do it.)

My son didn’t spend two to five hours a day at a facility five to six days a week. He had an Xbox. He rarely played. Why assume if a kid isn’t obsessed with something he’s hanging out?

He still didn’t have a lot of free time during the week with multiple sports and a challenging academic load. He had balance. All of his time wasn’t about baseball. All his friends weren’t baseball players. He had a social life away from sports.

Baseball became enough of a grind in college. I’m glad he had a more rounded life in high school.

After college at Thanksgiving my son joked, “Now I’m as boring as the rest of you. Instead of “how’s (pick the sport in high school) and how’s baseball in college, it’s how’s the job.”

Fortunately, because he’s always been well rounded as a person it was just a joke. His life didn’t end when baseball ended.

@RJM posted:

There sure seem to be a lot of poor Caribbean players in the country club.

That statement isn't even relatively close to my point..... Comparing this is issue is like comparing apples and oranges. The "poor Caribbean player" didn't come through the same process as the poor American player. If the American kid has real legit athletic potential then he has way more options available to him than just baseball. These options usually come in the form of Football or Basketball. Usually by the time the American kid has hit 8th or 9th grade someone somewhere has tapped him on the shoulder and educated him on why he should give up baseball and focus on something different. Which in turns provides the potential of having actual full-rides. Heck even the basketball coach just told my 9th son this when he saw him get up and dunk for the first time. Kids that are the best athletes in their areas are not following through with baseball as their primary sport. And I really ask, why should they?

And as far as bringing my own wallet......  AAU Basketball is much, much cheaper than Elite HS Travel-Ball. It isn't even close around my area. Couple hundred to be on the team and get into some good tournaments that are attended by various coaches and scouts. Then about 100 more or so for some nice Air Jordans. You know the kid has to look good to play good. And that's pretty much it - other than some gas money and food.

Sucks that he and I love baseball soo much......

@ReluctantO'sFan posted:

That statement isn't even relatively close to my point..... Comparing this is issue is like comparing apples and oranges. The "poor Caribbean player" didn't come through the same process as the poor American player. If the American kid has real legit athletic potential then he has way more options available to him than just baseball. These options usually come in the form of Football or Basketball. Usually by the time the American kid has hit 8th or 9th grade someone somewhere has tapped him on the shoulder and educated him on why he should give up baseball and focus on something different. Which in turns provides the potential of having actual full-rides. Heck even the basketball coach just told my 9th son this when he saw him get up and dunk for the first time. Kids that are the best athletes in their areas are not following through with baseball as their primary sport. And I really ask, why should they?

The sad thing is far too many black kids see football and basketball as the way out of poverty. The best way out is education whether it’s college or a trade. Most college football and basketball players don’t receive the opportunity to earn a living in their sport. A person who makes education the goal does.