Kid activities in my UMC area are so expensive

[Anonymous]

Holy shit

[Anonymous]

That sounds insane for 6 year old soccer. We live in a high COL area and spend about that on year round ballet but soccer through the most popular local league is only like $200 per season plus uniform cost and the 6 year old uniform is just a $20 t-shirt and you provide your own shorts and socks in black.

The whole point of soccer is that it's ultra-accessible for little kids. Neither of my kids love it so I don't see us doing it past 1st or 2nd grade when it's mostly about hanging out with friends and getting exercise. They have other more expensive activities that I'm sure will ultimately bankrupt us but unless you have some kind of soccer phenom I don't know why you'd spend that much.

[Anonymous]

That sounds crazy. My DC WTOP kids play PPA soccer which as mentioned upthread is a couple hundred dollars per season. All the private schools do it too (when the kids are young and before they start doing travel). Where are you OP and what soccer program is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids sport for 8u registration was $2500. Not including jerseys, socks, or team fees. Practices are only twice a week and games on Saturday and Sunday often out of state. Kids sports is a huge money grab. It's kind of disgusting. In other areas around the country it's significantly cheaper.

Sounds like you are playing travel.

Rec is substantially cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our soccer program is $800 a semester for 6 year olds. It’s on crappy grass fields and very subpar coaching. The uniform kit is $250. I think because our area is UMC we pay stupid prices. And it’s the league everyone from his public elementary does.

How foolish are you

[Anonymous]

Eh, I live in Rockville (I would say it's an UMC area but granted significantly less so than some other areas around here) and I pay no where near that for soccer--less than $200/semester. Have you looked at all your options?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our soccer program is $800 a semester for 6 year olds. It’s on crappy grass fields and very subpar coaching. The uniform kit is $250. I think because our area is UMC we pay stupid prices. And it’s the league everyone from his public elementary does.

Most rec sports are $125-$200 for fees. If the uniform is separate (it often isn't, but we've been in one league where it was out of the leagues we have tried), it was $40 and you could wear it repeatedly because it didn't change from season to season.

Even when we started throwing in extra clinics and opportunities it was $300-$400 a season, and that gets us extra games and practices and instruction through our league.

Maybe try a different sport if you don't want to pay these prices and won't go to another league since friends are there? Basketball? Baseball? Lacrosse? Flag football?

Though at least where we are you can't blame the leagues for fields. Fairfax County does a terrible job with fields so unless the league has adopted them and has a bunch of obsessive dads maintaining them, they are all bad. At least with soccer your kid will graduate to turf eventually. Indoor sports aren't much better - there's very little gym availability compared to the number of teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this rec soccer?

Yea it is. It’s a local soccer team. They do an evaluation for team placement but it’s no cut league team. It’s just the one close by everyone does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this rec soccer?

Yea it is. It’s a local soccer team. They do an evaluation for team placement but it’s no cut league team. It’s just the one close by everyone does.

You are being played. Go elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

We are in a similar area. It's club soccer that is basically no-cut at the lower ages. We do rec which is cheaper, downside is he doesn't play with any classmates, upside is I don't feel conned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in a similar area. It's club soccer that is basically no-cut at the lower ages. We do rec which is cheaper, downside is he doesn't play with any classmates, upside is I don't feel conned.

My kids' sport is not quite to the level of crazy that soccer is, but I worry that this is where it's heading. Nobody wants to volunteer, so rec leagues are in a tight spot, and everyone thinks their kid "needs" to be on club (see a bajillion threads in the Sports forum on this, or the one about sports for an unathletic girl in this forum). Because of that rec is headed down the tubes and eventually everyone will be paying travel $$$ for little kid sports with 2 uniforms to do what rec used to do.

I guess the upside is that they can pay coaches? But I think the downsides are huge.

[Anonymous]

Rec soccer from age 5 to 8 was $200 person season for us in Fairfax. Uniform was maybe $50, but he wore the same one for multiple years.

When he moved to a travel league fees increased to $2000 annual, and uniforms were like $100.

Your experience is not normal, go play elsewhere!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids sport for 8u registration was $2500. Not including jerseys, socks, or team fees. Practices are only twice a week and games on Saturday and Sunday often out of state. Kids sports is a huge money grab. It's kind of disgusting. In other areas around the country it's significantly cheaper.

Sounds like you are playing travel.

Rec is substantially cheaper.

It sounds like this poster’s “kids sport,” is actually hockey. It is similar in setup and fees to what 8u pays in my kid’s program for what is basically pre-travel (a house league is cheaper). 8u was cheaper when my kids were that age. Now they use it to subsidize the cost of the older kids’ teams that have a lot more ice time but only pay a couple hundred more.

OP - everyone may get to play, but it really sounds like you’re playing with a club team, not rec. The club may be closest and most popular with your friends, but there’s probably a significantly cheaper rec program nearby. The fees would be outrageous for an actual rec team. For soccer, ours are around $150 with uniform (sometimes just a shirt) included.

[Anonymous]

$800? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Laughs an Equestrian Mom and a Softball Travel leaguer Mom