Is it just me?

You haven't seen nothing yet, wait until they get to college.

I think out total travel (and we didn't travel often as others did)was close to 35K. Now throw in everything else needed for them for 3-4 years at school and you are talking a LOT of money. We were fortunate not to have to worry about total actual school costs, they made it easy for us to spend it on travel rather than on tuition.

The good part, you don't have to pay for drinks or protein bars anymore.

I will admit openly that due to rising costs of everything, most likely my son would remain in state to play. That would mean keeping activities close to those targeted schools. I think that many players that would go out of state otherwise will remain in state. Program I watched the other day, with student loans drying up and people losing home equity, 401K's, college will become unreachable for all students. That's why it is important to make the most of ALL opportunities, academic and athletic. JMO.

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A buck and a half each at the local Babe Ruth concession stand...we've got four in the budget!

Yes, it is getting more expensive and it will continue to grow in cost. We had to make some tough decisions when my son was in HS, could we afford to do it at a level that would not be in the family's best interest. Ultimatly, we said no and limited his baseball to what we could afford.

What this meant was taking a bottom line view. Ultimatly, this eliminated all of the PG events because we could not afford them. He went to the Stanford camp, but he stayed at home to save money.

Travel was limited to one major event his sophomore summer and a "team" trip his senior year. Did that limit his exposure, absolutely. I could not justify putting the financial well being of our family ahead of my son's dream/hope to play baseball.

TPM is right, it only gets more expensive. Very few college teams have bugets to pay equipment costs. This year, my son has gone through 2 gloves, 3 pairs of spikes, at least 8 sets of batting gloves, at least 4 bats and that does not cover travel. We just put him on plane for the east coast for summer ball, at season end, another flight back.

It all adds up if you want your son to have the opportunity to compete. Baseball is expensive and getting even more so.

However, it sure beats having to sit and watch Soc*er games.

Don't misunderstand me...I love having Jr. play.

It's just that when we went to the grocery store last night and I was again reminded how much $$$ we are giving the Myoplex folks - yikes! And that is really only the beginning.....

...guess I will have to get the tree in the backyard to now grow $500 bills instead of $250 bills!

I don't think that anyone misunderstands your point.

It's very expensive these days, and I have some friends who will not be following their son's this summer for that reason alone.

IMO this is a time when folks have to make adjustments and plan accordingly to family budget. Now is the time to sit down with your players and make them understand, they may not be able to attend the school of their dreams just on finances alone. Consider JUCO first. Or make adjustments and instead of attending every tourney of college camp in the USA stay regional.
If you have the extra funds, that's good stuff, but do know that most DO NOT. Be reasonable in your expectations, are you attending a top school camp every year are you doing so because of instruction or exposure to a school he might never get into otherwise. Attend smaller school camps. Budget for a good summer travel program senior summer. Instead of pitching lessons how about tutors to raise the GPA.
I know how competitive it is out there these days, but everything is relative. Does a top player in the country need to travel everywhere? Do 8th and 9th gradres need to attend showcases? If you are lucky to live in states with more exposure that's great, if not save it for when it counts towards recruiting.

As most have learned, with college recruiting and even the draft, it all comes down to the wire the last important year, I don't see the value of breaking the bank before that.

JMO.

quote:

As most have learned, with college recruiting and even the draft, it all comes down to the wire the last important year, I don't see the value of breaking the bank before that.

TPM sends a very important message although I doubt many will heed her words of wisdom. I said NO to a lot of expenses that many consider "NECESSARY" for their son's baseball career and looking back I know I spent more than I needed to. Think about it. It's not the brand of bat you swing but the way you swing it. It's not the vast amounts of showcasing that counts but what you have to show that's important. Dominate players create dominate teams ---- not the other way around. The holy grail of baseball resides in the talent and desire of each player and not at some state of the art stadium or well manicured diamond. Players control their destiny.
Fungo

well said, fungo.

I wouldn't disagree...particularly with the wisdom of folks much msarter than I such as Fungo and TPM.

That said...there is the reality of today that says for most (not the over the top talent guys)ballplayers, you must work hard to develop your skills, get the right exposure, and play against the best talent you can find. This involves $$$...and my guess is that it takes more - possibly much more - now than even a few years ago.

And, no, I'm not talking about just having the latest bat or glove. Frankly, those things are often the LEAST costly part of the equation when you look at travel costs and other fees.