Canadian Personal Finance Blog

I have ranted about this before, but I figure I’ll continue this given it is the start of another school year/sports year for the kids.

I have four kids and two of them are competitive basketball players with a local team. I am proud of their accomplishments, as I am proud of all of my kids, but the cost of playing sports is becoming more and more expensive each year. We pay about $400.00 or so just in team fees, which is actually a little cheap in comparison to what I hear other parents are paying for competitive hockey (and on the plus side, Gyms don’t open before 8:00 AM, so I am not spending early mornings in cold hockey arenas).

That expense wouldn’t be too bad, except that, that is not the only expense:

• Out of town tournaments are like mini-vacations, with their associated costs. You can spend anywhere between $300 and $800 for a weekend, depending on the distance, the price of the hotel to stay in, and how much you eat out. I have heard some parents say their kids won’t play competitive sports just for this cost alone.
• Equipment, for basketball, it’s pretty cheap, just running shoes, but again, those are not cheap any more (what happened to the $10 Converse All stars I used to play in?). Lebron James is a bit richer thanks to me right now.
• Meals, this is an interesting one, but how many times last year did I end up buying “take out” because we hadn’t planned correctly, or were just too darn tired from running around to cook? This is not an insignificant cost either. This is one, that can get out of control quickly if you aren’t careful.
• Team jerseys and memorabilia for games and such are another added item that adds up (team bags, team t-shirts, etc.,)

Am I lamenting and complaining about this, I will paraphrase a VISA commercial all this time watching my kids have fun is priceless (I just wish it wasn’t so pricEY).

Might be worthwhile keeping a budget here too! –C8j