Costs to play summer collegiate leagues?

Goosegg- I played last summer in the Coastal Plain League. While I don't have first hand knowledge of the leagues you mentioned, I would assume they are all similar.

In the CPL, players are required to obtain their own transportation to the team location. For me, that was making the drive from New York to the North Carolina coast. We were all housed with host families, all located within 10 miles of the stadium. The host families were absolutely outstanding, and many of us still have relationships with our families. I actually just spoke to mine last night.

We played a 56 game schedule throughout the summer and all games were at night. Travelling was quite far as well, so jobs were sort of difficult to get. The team ran a camp for local kids and many of us worked there. The organization tried to accomodate those that requested additional work, whether it be lawn mowing, bus boying, etc. But to be honest, it is very difficult to have an income in this situation. Friends I have that have played in the leagues you mentioned say it is very similar with the exception of the Cape, where it is required that each player gets a job. I'm sure other posters here with Cape experience will be able to provide more specific information about that.

Post-game meals were provided at each game, home or away, by the host team. Otherwise playes were on their own for food. Most of the time, however, the host families would provide meals for us whenever we were home. Most of the money I spent on the road was on Gatorade at convenience stores. Transportation to all away games were provided by the team in a form of a bus.

We were also provided free meals from Subway, free haircuts at a salon in town, discounted rounds of golf at a local course and a free Gold's Gym membership for the entire summer.

quote:

Originally posted by Goosegg:
S will be playing in a summer collegiate league and one of the factors in deciding which league (and/or team) will be the costs. This is a new area for us and I have no feel for costs. I am interested especially in the NECBL, Cal Ripken, Cape Code and Northwoods.

Do they get the players jobs? How about housing? How about food? How about transportation? Etc.

It is not a requirement to work if you play in the CCBL, but the team my son played for made it one. As a pitcher, his job was raking the field and helping in camp, about 2 hours or a bit more a day. Most of the money son made went to his host family, as there was a weekly charge for rent. Parents could pay it up front or weekly or the players could take it out of their paycheck. Most of the families pledge that amount to the league. So it's worked out so that the player never has to hand money directly to the family. My son's host family made sure the fridge always had food in it for him and pre cooked meals or asked him what he wanted to eat after the game and went to pick him up something. They were great hosts, and I do beleive another websters son here also stayed with them.
My son drove up from school and he was given mileage at the end of the summer for the round trip, not much, I am not sure they pay for your transportation at all anymore.
Transportation is provided to all games as well as uniforms, and pregame meals provided with post game leftover hot dogs and hamburgers.
No matter which way you slice it, there are parental costs involved, most of ours was for food and gas and gym membership, entertainment, etc. Nothing that I remember was free, rather at reduced rates.

BTW, you really don't get to "choose", the decision is usually made by the coaching staff at school.

I volunteer with the Cal Ripken League. There is a fee to be on the team -- I'm not sure what it is -- it covers uniform costs, umpire fees, etc. There is no rent paid to host families, so there is no cost for players' families there. Some of the teams run camps and the players earn some money working those. The players drive their own cars or catch rides with other players, so there is money that the players need for gas, food, outings, etc.

Valley Baseball League- no cost for housing as all teams use host families, all teams provide transportation to games, most provide post-game meals. Some players work, most don't. Players need "pocket money" to cover food, gas, and incidentals. Many host families feed their players. Laundry is a mixed bag-some teams launder the unis, most leave it to the players, after strict instructions, but many host family moms take on the "duty". Bats are provided, but players can bring their own if perferred. Travel isn't too bad-several teams are located such that 75% of the road games are 45 miles away or less. The longest trips are for the teams at the far edges of the league, when they play each other, around 4 hours, but I'd guess the "average" trip is around 40 minutes or less.

So in 10 years, at $92,000 per woman at college basketball, are these summer leagues all we will have left?

Very interesting reading in this thread, keep em coming folks.

Whatever the costs are, they are minimal for the benefits that the player reaps

Son played in the West Coast League last summer. He stayed with a wonderful host family (they were simply amazing) who provided him with a very nice home to stay at, plus got him a gym membership and also provided him with meals when he was in town.

The team costs were about $550 and there was a lot of long trips to games (50% of games were about 2 hours away and 50% were over 6 hours away). They had to have their own transportation to the games (no team bus), so the players car pooled as much as possible and they all chipped in for fuel costs. This ended up being quite expensive by time the season ended.

When on the road he had to buy his own food (occasionally on over night stays the team did pickup a meal). So he spent A LOT of money on gas, and also a fair amount on food.

At one point son had to ask coach about the possibility of getting a job while he was there to help with the expenses. The coach said he would look into it, but it never happened.

All in all it was a good experience for him, but there were a lot of expenses that came up that weren't expected.

It depends mostly upon the team your son will play with and the host family he gets hooked up with. Its very difficult to generalize even for a particular league. My son played in the Cal Ripkin league and Alaska league and never had to pay much for the experience.

All his host families helped with transportation and/or loaned him a car or truck and feed him with no charge. He even went on a watersking/fishing vacation with his Cal Ripkin league host family during a break! Not all players are so fortunate. As I recall in the Ripkin league the teams weren't very far apart so they didn't have to drive far and as I recall they carpooled to games. In Alaska the team had a bus as the trips were very long and his Alaska team also paid for the airfare, which is very expensive.

I think a lot of it depends on whether the league receives funds from MLB that determines costs and what is allowed and what is not.

Son played in the Northwoods league this last summer. We paid his airfare to get there from west coast and sent him spending money for extras. His host family was incredible. Gave him a truck to drive for the summer, fed him, and entertained him. The nicest people in the world. They traveled on a nice modern bus, stayed in fairly nice hotels, had meals provided on the road. Lots of pizza, Subway sandwiches, etc. He did spend some of his own money for healthier meals.

No money to the host families, no fees to pay to the league. It was a relatively cheap summer for us. He had a great time with great competition. These teams do make money so I'm sure that effects what the players are responsible for monetarily.

The Northwoods league was your son in north or south division?

Also, I would guess the players buy their own wood bats? Is that correct??

In the CPL, all players were required to use Rawlings bats, which were provided by the team.

Son played in NWL. Paid airfare, and gave him some pocket money. Team fed them on game day. Players were required to be at the field by 2pm for pratice. All games were at night. Large crowds every game. Host family was awesome. Gave him a car for the summer, and kept the kitchen stocked with food. The community really supported the team. Son loved it.

Bats were provided by the NWL and they broke lots of them! My only complaint is that I think it's way too many games (70) over a summer season. If the player didn't play much during the college season it's probably fine but for college starters it's too much w/o enough rest. Son left 2 days after his last college game, came home 2 weeks before school started.
The league did institute pitching limitations this year after complaints from college coaches.But other than that I highly rec this summer league, amazing fan support.

MLB money doesn't make a huge difference but is greatly appreciated. League and teams have to be
tax exempt to get MLB money, but the amount given per team amounts to about $4000-$5000, enough to pay for the baseballs. (The average VBL team goes through around 80 dozen baseballs.)

T T, I'm curious as to what team he played on in the WCL as the many players that we know that played in that league did not have to provide their own transportation or pay $500. If you don't want to say publicly would you send me a private message?

Cal Ripken League provides the bats. I believe its season is 50 games long, plus playoffs.