Can we discuss the cost of competitive sports?

[Anonymous]

So much money. And parents claim college recruiting is a meritocracy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend with a kid in formula racing. They are spending over $1 mil a year, perhaps closer to $1.5. This is appalling to me, but also gratifying so that I don’t feel so bad about $15-20k a year for two sectionals/futures level swimmers.

Well, thank goodness my kid never wanted to get into racing

Where are they getting this money from? I find that appalling.

They have many many millions of dollars. And they work for their “family office”, which I have discovered is what a lot of trust fund kids say when they are asked what line of work they are in.

I heard several years ago about a kid who spends this kind of money showing cattle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is part of why I am against college sports recruiting. It’s a backdoor entry for rich kids.

LOL 4k sport vs 60k private school hmm

For some sports, private school is basically a requirement to be recruitable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend with a kid in formula racing. They are spending over $1 mil a year, perhaps closer to $1.5. This is appalling to me, but also gratifying so that I don’t feel so bad about $15-20k a year for two sectionals/futures level swimmers.

Well, thank goodness my kid never wanted to get into racing

Where are they getting this money from? I find that appalling.

They have many many millions of dollars. And they work for their “family office”, which I have discovered is what a lot of trust fund kids say when they are asked what line of work they are in.

I heard several years ago about a kid who spends this kind of money showing cattle.

Wait till you hear about equestrian girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So much money. And parents claim college recruiting is a meritocracy.

The rich white kid sports have been a back door into the Ivys since I was a kid. Another form of affirmative action.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is part of why I am against college sports recruiting. It’s a backdoor entry for rich kids.

LOL 4k sport vs 60k private school hmm

For some sports, private school is basically a requirement to be recruitable.

Just another Varsity Blues side door for the wealthy.

[Anonymous]

The Ivy league hockey path has to be insanely expensive. My cousins played AAA hockey and transferred a private school known for producing hockey players, then took time off to play junior hockey after high school (practically a requirement which is why you average entering hockey player in D1 is like 20), and then started college at Ivies to play D1 at around age 20. Their parents paid out of pocket for ivies, since Ivies don't give athletic scholarships, and they graduated at around age 24.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is part of why I am against college sports recruiting. It’s a backdoor entry for rich kids.

LOL 4k sport vs 60k private school hmm

For some sports, private school is basically a requirement to be recruitable.

It is for Alpine ski racing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing that I've recently asked myself: what if we had invested all the money we spent on travel sports into a UTMA for our kid? The total amount would likely exceed $200k with market growth, and it would continue to grow. That would be enough to fund a house down payment someday. Was it worth it?

Fortunately, we didn't play travel sports at the expense of saving for college, but there were tradeoffs.

Did your kid have FUN? More fun than watching their college savings grow?

So money's main purpose should be fun? I mean, I like it in theory. Maybe we should've spent the travel sports money on travel that was fun for the whole family, like longer, more fun ski vacations, learning to scuba dive and surf, and seeing more of the world together.

I don't know, but it was a lot of money on a sport that I don't think changed their character or life trajectory more than a less expensive sport might have. I know some people don't like to look back and wonder, but I don't mind doing it out loud to help younger parents think a little harder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Ivy league hockey path has to be insanely expensive. My cousins played AAA hockey and transferred a private school known for producing hockey players, then took time off to play junior hockey after high school (practically a requirement which is why you average entering hockey player in D1 is like 20), and then started college at Ivies to play D1 at around age 20. Their parents paid out of pocket for ivies, since Ivies don't give athletic scholarships, and they graduated at around age 24.

Best move financially for hockey players is to get recruited to a top boarding school.

A school like Deerfield says no family will pay more than 10% of their taxable income and it’s free for any family making $150k or less.

So a family making say $300k pays only $30k, but that includes all the travel hockey costs as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Ivy league hockey path has to be insanely expensive. My cousins played AAA hockey and transferred a private school known for producing hockey players, then took time off to play junior hockey after high school (practically a requirement which is why you average entering hockey player in D1 is like 20), and then started college at Ivies to play D1 at around age 20. Their parents paid out of pocket for ivies, since Ivies don't give athletic scholarships, and they graduated at around age 24.

Best move financially for hockey players is to get recruited to a top boarding school.

A school like Deerfield says no family will pay more than 10% of their taxable income and it’s free for any family making $150k or less.

So a family making say $300k pays only $30k, but that includes all the travel hockey costs as well.

Do you know any hockey players from this area who were recruited to Deerfield and qualified for aid? I would assume they are recruiting kids from Europe who are much better at hockey than our kids when they are giving out aid, but I've never looked into it. I know kids who've gotten aid in hockey programs, like Mount St. Charles, but not at prep schools like Deerfield. As a parent, I'd pick Deerfield all day - because there is a future outside of hockey that is aided by that path. I assume the kids also have to have very high test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Ivy league hockey path has to be insanely expensive. My cousins played AAA hockey and transferred a private school known for producing hockey players, then took time off to play junior hockey after high school (practically a requirement which is why you average entering hockey player in D1 is like 20), and then started college at Ivies to play D1 at around age 20. Their parents paid out of pocket for ivies, since Ivies don't give athletic scholarships, and they graduated at around age 24.

Best move financially for hockey players is to get recruited to a top boarding school.

A school like Deerfield says no family will pay more than 10% of their taxable income and it’s free for any family making $150k or less.

So a family making say $300k pays only $30k, but that includes all the travel hockey costs as well.

Do you know any hockey players from this area who were recruited to Deerfield and qualified for aid? I would assume they are recruiting kids from Europe who are much better at hockey than our kids when they are giving out aid, but I've never looked into it. I know kids who've gotten aid in hockey programs, like Mount St. Charles, but not at prep schools like Deerfield. As a parent, I'd pick Deerfield all day - because there is a future outside of hockey that is aided by that path. I assume the kids also have to have very high test scores.

There was a WSJ article about a MC family from NJ with a hockey kid at Deerfield. 100% free for them.

Anyone making less than $800k gets some aid as Deerfield is about $80k.

[Anonymous]

My boy went to Deerfield

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a gymnastics parent with Arlington. The proposed fee increases will raise rates significantly with some parents paying nearly 12k a year (not including meet fees, uniforms, hotels, plane tickets etc). So easily another 5k in some cases (current rate is over 8k a year)

But it got me thinking what do folks pay for other competitive sports. I know individual.sports tend to be pricy (competitive rock climbing and archery are close to $500 a month/6k a year).

But what are folks paying for team sports. Just wondering what folks really pay out there. Do people regularly pay 10k plus for just the sport (so not including equipment, uniforms, travel)?

kiddie sports obsession is a mental illness.

[Anonymous]

Our daughter was recruited by Deerfield for hockey, and the price would have been around $30k/year, but we are not prep school people and want our kids at home.