funny how so many people seem to think their son is not obligated to pay team fees

Fees should be disclosed at or prior to tryouts.  That way you weed out the people who don't want to pay.  I'd also take out the extra hat and jerseys if possible.  

I coached/managed a travel team for many years and took the advise of another Coach who came before me.  First, I ALWAYS had a budget prepared and we stuck to it.  Second, I disclosed (monthly) all team/player expenses and team/player income.  Lastly, we had a mandatory team meeting (con call number provided for those travelling) at the beginning of the season to review team goals, scheduling options, and national tournament dates to be put on summer calendars.  There was no wiggle room for excuses because it was also put in writing.  This took care of 100% of money issues.  

When I coached travel I calculated the budget and multiplied by 1.15. I still ended up spending some of my own money on the team. I required half the payment in December. The other half was due in April. Only one family got behind on payments. I covered them. 

I help run a travel ball program and every year its a struggle with a few to get them to complete their payment obligations.  Hard to tell a kid he can't play because his parents don't pay so we typically cover them.  We also fundraise to cover some scholarships for needy kids.  Parents have no idea how much running a team actually costs, coaches fees (who are really paid pennies per hour).  The guys making money in travel ball are the tournament organizers.

We had one mom every year that would complain about the cost and how poor she was when my youngest was playing travel ball.  We had several families who were very well off and it was like she expected them to cover the cost for her son as well.  It's crazy how much entitlement some people have.

It's true parents don't often understand what running a team costs. So I told them and broke it down. At the end of the season I offered to provide the accounting for the season. No one ever made the request. I also detailed all the admin hours I spent on the team at no charge.

That's how we did it.  Had a budget and everyone got a copy.  They could see updates whenever they wanted.  We stayed on top of the parents making sure they made the payments and required everything in before the first game or the kid would sit.  At the end of the year, anything left over was rolled into the next year or refunded if the player left the team.  Never had a problem. 

We have "scholarship" kids on both 2018's HS team and travel team. I certainly understand it financially, believe me it is a struggle each month to cover all the fees - but the part of it we find so frustrating is the entitlement of these scholarship families.

In our case, if we asked for 2018 to go on scholarship you better believe he'd be the first kid to arrive and last to leave, and would be head of the janitorial service and maintenance crew to boot. The three families we know of who aren't paying fees are the exact opposite - last kid to show, first to leave, always an excuse, never at booster meetings, kids jog down the baseline, zero hustle, etc. - basically baseball seems like a babysitting duty, yet they are now sophomores in HS.

Zero idea why either coaching staff puts up with it, somehow they must feel like it is their good deed for the season - but it actually drags the whole programs attitude down.