With the publication of a joint study from Louisiana Tech and Utah State Universities, The Aspen Institute is telling the world what parents have known for awhile now: YOUTH SPORTS ARE TOO EXPENSIVE (and it is getting worse).
The data is clear, namely that:
- Families are spending 40% more on sports than they did in 2019 (2x rates of inflation)
- Basketball costs are up 105%
- Soccer costs are up 69%
- Baseball costs are up 68%
- Travel costs are up 41%, now accounting for nearly 25% of total family costs to play
- $40 Billion is spent annually by families, more than 2x more than cash in the NFL
We must stop this insanity for, not only the financial burden it places on families, but for the sustainability of healthy communities.
As much as I appreciate all of the data that tells parents what we know, I want actions. I want change. No sensational headline or out-of-sight percentage can find a way to create a better outcome. Year-after-year parents that are able (like me) are taking note of the increasing role of soccer/basketball/baseball (insert sport here) into their family’s budget. Even worse, those families that don’t have disposable incomes, simply cannot even dream of playing anymore. As clear as the financial data is, participation is equally as clear on ever-declining rates of participation (when normalized for the abys of the COVID years).
The case for change is obvious and, alas, I am proposing a plan.
The GRAND ($1,000) Plan
The stated goal of The GRAND Plan is simple: the average family’s annual spending on youth sports will not exceed $1,000 per athlete.
The Aspen Institute’s data tells us that, if you’re an average participating family in 2024, this would represent a 33% decrease to your current spending on soccer, baseball, basketball, cheer etc.
This is a lofty goal, I know.
With the cost of just about everything increasing, the road to reach my GRAND goal is long, winding, and multifaceted.
The Parent’s Role
The data tells us that parents can directly influence categories of sports spending like travel, paying for lessons, and camps/athletic schools. The biggest bang for a parent’s buck in reducing youth sports costs (no matter the sport) is agreeing on bounds for team travel.
There are several pragmatic ways parents can reduce annual travel costs:
- Limit all games and tournaments to a 2-hour (or 100 mile) radius.
- If hotel stays are required, demand game times that necessitate only a Saturday night stay.
- Refuse to participate in tournaments where a flight is required.
I can understand the desire of kids and parents to travel – to play the best teams and to experience the camaraderie of hanging out at the hotel pool with their teammates. You can still do this without the airports and unnecessary taxing of families that feel the pressure to follow the herd.
The Organization’s Role
There are direct and indirect ways for sanctioning bodies, tournaments, venues, and youth sports clubs to help in restoring the affordability of youth sports. Registrations and equipment represent nearly $400 per year, on average, per family.
For these direct costs – registration fees, uniforms, league fees, team budgets/ancillaries, field space/maintenance, and coaches salaries – there must be complete transparency before $1 is collected for any season.
For those costs which are controllable by the organization, I am calling for two hour-long, virtual meetings where a representative of the organization lays out the expectant costs per participant for the upcoming year. If that average direct cost exceeds $300 per family annually, a plan must be made to bridge the gap. The second virtual meeting of the year will provide an update to the first at the midpoint of the season, with the stated goal of measuring the organizational effectiveness against the $300 annual average costs per participant. This data is required to be published on the club’s website before any tryout can take place leading into a year.
For indirect costs – insurance, overhead costs, management salaries – every organization’s total increase of such costs (as a percentage of its annual revenue) cannot exceed the annual level of inflation. Just like direct costs, indirect costs as a % of revenue will be a metric listed on the club’s website prior to any tryout.
Both of these actions encourage organizations to grow its youth sports programming (ie: more kids drives down the average). Organizations can continue to have top teams of their best players if they grow the entire pool of kids served. The average metrics ensures that expenses only growth in line with national inflation and participation numbers. Said another way, to increase annual costs overall, the number of kids playing must increase at the same clip, leaving the average within the $300 per family range.
The Community’s Role
If a young person wishes to play any sport, space to do so cannot be an issue – in urban or rural areas. The responsibility to provide public access has often fallen on the shoulders of Parks and Recreation Departments that are dying in the face of a flood to privatized athletics.
We must find a way to strengthen Rec programs nationally – through fundraising or consolidation or alongside of the numerous pay-to-play organizations. The first step in rebuilding communal youth sports is for local leaders to prioritize youth sports as an important source of overall community health.
The Future under The GRAND Plan
If parents, organizations, and communities succeed in driving down the average annual costs of play to $1,000, the youth sports landscape will reinvent itself as a meritocracy – a place where all can play and the best naturally ascend. This is a future where families aren’t forced to take on unnecessary debt in order for their kids to participate. The organizations that serve our kids will be transformed – by prioritizing participation above profits while realizing that one does not have to be traded for the other. Our will communities thrive as our kids get moving.
The Future without The GRAND Plan
If the costs of participating in youth sports continue to climb at rates that exceed inflation, there will be only two roads for athletic participation: (a) LeBron-like natural ability, or, (b) wealthy parents.
Sure, those elite athletes will always be trained, but the rest will be left behind. The other 99% of kids are left to plop in front of a screen, in their rooms with simmering anxiety, lacking the confidence and the sense of accomplishment that participation in an activity can fortify. This is a future of increased socioeconomic divide, isolation, bankruptcy, and depression. Woof.
The GRAND Plan is only a start. There are families that face the same struggle whether the annual costs of participation is $500 or $20,000. Capping the average costs at $1k/year, though, is the first step to a pragmatic solution that acknowledges the importance of families, organizations, and communities working together to ensure the future is one of activity and teamwork for all.
