How much to charge a travel ball team for field use

BillBill

Off the top of my head.....

-$300 per month based on useage 3-5 times a week for 4 weeks. Lights not included.

-Mow grass and maintain field is a must.

A few years ago my son's travel team rented a practice field that they had to pay rent ($100 per month) and mow the field. It was a good practice field but nothing like some of the Atlanta HS fields I've seen.

Good luck.

BillBill,

I can’t give you an exact number, but if you look at the link you’ll see what one of the local cities charges for it fields. Hopefully from that, you can figure out something close. But things are always goofy for a HS field. Remember, the taxpayers are already paying for them, and for the regular mowing and maintenance, but it costs money to keep things looking good.

Don’t allow renters to use the equipment like rakes, drags, utility vehicles, line chalkers, etc.. Most of the time those things are paid for by the HS team, not the school budget, and if they get broken, that’s who’s gonna have to get them fixed or replace them. If you do let them use any equipment, make sure you have some kind of replacement/repair clause in the contract.

http://www.yourcsd.com/parks/p...tal_fee_schedule.pdf

Good luck!

Being that it is owned by the Local School Board, you may want to check with them before renting out the field. I know our local school board has a contract that an outside group needs to sign for liability purposes.

Lots of liability issues. In AZ, the district and the HC have to sign off on field usage. It includes insurance coverage. Make sure no cash is involved. Make sure who the checks need to be written to to avoid any accusations of misappropriation of funds. Remember, they will NOT take as good as care of the fields as you will. Expect to have to work it after they are done working the field.

Personally, I would charge double what the city fields charge. It is much nicer.

BILL;
ARE YOU A PARENT, A COACH?

We rent fields every year for our Goodwill events.
The 1st requirement from City or HS is $2 million in liability insurance.
Your renter is required to name your school as additional insured.
You will need a field coordinator [$$$$] whenever the games are played on this field.
With the CF fence 340', are houses located beyond the fence?
What is the objective to renting this field?

Bob

This should be a simple thing but it is not. I used to have a hard time understanding why many school fields were not made more accessible until I became more involved with some of these issues.

Things to consider...

Who normally maintains the fields in the off-season if anyone? ...the school district? What costs will be added to do so? Someone suggested not allowing the renter to use field equipment but it usually isn’t feasible to bring in outside field equipment for each practice/game. And if they don’t do some degree of maintenance, the field will likely suffer. If you do allow use of equipment, you have wear and tear and possible breakage or theft as well as storage access concerns.

What will use frequency be? Enough to change the current field status of “new and in great shape”? Will they use cages, screens and nets? Will they need to water? Will they need to use clay, infield mix and turface? Access to lights, scorer’s booth?
Will someone need to be available to open gates or otherwise allow access to school field for each scheduled use? Will there be additional litter and vandalism to deal with?

Of course, there are liability issues to consider as well. The team will need to have adequate insurance, but you will also need to consider if the school insurance will cover non-school related events held at the facility.

What is the motivation to allow use? Is it so that local kids, including those from your school, have a good facility to use in the summer/fall or is it to make a few bucks for the program?

It can be very difficult to come up with a fee that covers all of your true costs and is feasible for a club team. I’ve seen hourly - $25-$75, weekend - $100-$250, and I know some charge by the week or month, depending on frequency. I’ve seen some schools charge nothing if team had a reasonable representation from the host HS. Whatever you do, make sure these issues are discussed at length before entering into an agreement.

.

I tell you what BillBill...how 'bout ten bucks a game? Or five bucks if you can get rid of those monster gophers out in right field.

No need to mow or water...this field is invincible.

Just don't leave the lights on...the neighbors get annoyed and have too much fun putting them out.




"They took out the lights again in left. Have you ever seen a can of soup launched like that before?"......"Only once...mmm mmm goodness sakes!"

.

And if your field is being used as one of many fields as part of a large tournament, and gate fees may be charged, be sure to check with your county or city board. One county may allow the organizers to collect gate fees, and a neighboring county may not. Saw this just last year.

Thanks for all the great input and ideas. There are a lot of things here we haven't thought of. Here are answers to some of the questions:

The purpose of renting the field is to make money for the Dugout Club. We've rented our field in the past to an almost year 'round Adult league (Sunday only) that has paid us about 2k for the privilege. We've never known if that was a good rate or not but we've learned that some nearby fields get about 2k for renting it to a summer travel team. But they don't have to share with anyone. The money from the Adult League goes to the school directly and the school cuts the Dugout Club a check for the same amount. We put the money back into improving the field, generally.

I am a parent and member of the booster club.

We'll definitely want to have a written agreement. I'm actually not sure what the Adult League has done but I will find out. I am certain they've carried liability insurance. We've let them use our tractor and tools to maintain the field. It helps that one of our assistant coaches is in the adult league so he keeps an eye on it for us. They only use the field on Sundays so it just sits the other days of the week.

Whatever team rents it will use the cages, screens, and net. We have no lights right now. My understanding is that the school board delegates field rental to the principal. Water is available and the field has a sprinkler system.

I will need to check into how tournaments that charge fees are handled. During the season they do not let us charge fees although several bordering counties do.

I'll look over the thread and answer additional questions shortly.

Keep the ideas, suggestions, and questions coming. This is really good information and discussion.

We pay 10.00 a day pur kid to play/practice at our college field we practice at. We work out 2 day on field and one day in cage at our field house.