10k or more for the year for one kid if the team is good is accurate.

Mental pain and suffering

Anonymous wrote:You know what the killer is? Joining a club and being directed to hurry up and pay for your practice and game kits, only to learn that the club will update the kit again next year. That is another $600-$900 on top of any other cost two years in a row. The pain is even more acute for goalkeepers who have additional kits and the endless cost of gloves throughout the year.

Personally, I think the cost of club kits should be rolled into the club fee structure and planned for and spread across multiple years.

1000 percent. My one of my kids fell in between the two year uniform cycle when he joined ECNL team - so had to pay $700 two years in a row for his uniform kits. And it’s all required stuff.

You know what the killer is? Joining a club and being directed to hurry up and pay for your practice and game kits, only to learn that the club will update the kit again next year. That is another $600-$900 on top of any other cost two years in a row. The pain is even more acute for goalkeepers who have additional kits and the endless cost of gloves throughout the year.

Personally, I think the cost of club kits should be rolled into the club fee structure and planned for and spread across multiple years.

Halfway decent ECNL team you're looking at 10k minimum all in.

Last year, our club fee included 4 tournaments/showcases (by which I mean the application fee which is anywhere between $750-$1500 depending on the tournament). Next year, the club fee includes no tournaments/showcases. Each one ends up costing about $70-$75 per player. Plus, the coach's hotel, mileage and food which can add another $100 or so.

Depend on the club. Our current club is trash. They collect the club fee, and the rest is for the team to figure out. Club fee only includes the club dues - nothing else. The only requirement from our club is that we play in the club's tournament. Otherwise, the coach will determine what tournaments we play in.

My son has played travel soccer u9-u16 and we have never paid coach fees for tournaments. I guess maybe because the club rolls it into the yearly fees. We are told our fees cover 4 tournaments a year but if we play extra we could incur additional fees. I assume this would apply if a team qualified for regionals or nationals which sadly never happens for his teams. So far the only other expense a club has assessed has been a team fee at the young ages that went towards a tent and travel bench which was minimal.

He did play on a travel baseball team when younger that collected fees per tournament. Those were about $100 a tournament.

OP here. Thanks, all! We were told that the team would participant in 4 or maybe 5 tournaments throughout the year. Another parent who is also new to the team said that she had been told the cost per player to cover the coach's expenses for an out-of-town tournament weekend is usually $80-$100 which seems to be in line with what someone above said.

Anonymous wrote:Totally normal, but team fees are usually pretty small.

This unless you play for a team that plays a bunch of tournaments. Those can tack on an extra 50 to 100 per tournament

Totally normal, but team fees are usually pretty small.

Totally normal. Don't forget you have to purchase uniforms separately as well

Some clubs give a price you pay to the club that includes everything except uniforms, but most are like you describe, you pay the team fee separately.

This is normal. Sometime they will also account for end of season parties or coach gifts. But you should be able to see full accounting for this.

DS has played rec soccer for a few years now and decided that he wanted more of a challenge. He tried out for a travel team and got an offer which we accepted. This will be our first time playing travel soccer but I understand there is typically a "club fee" and then each team has its own "team fee". As far as the "team fee", we were told that when the team travels to attend a tournament, the team pays for the coach's hotel room, food, travel costs, etc. and this is totaled up and divided by the number of players on the team. Since this is still new to us, does that sound like how things usually work for a travel soccer team? Is there anything else that's typically part of a "team fee"? Thanks!