Despite my family not having a lot of money growing up, sports were always a large part of my life. I feel really grateful that my parents were able to see how much I loved participating in sports from a young age, and saw the benefits that they brought to my life, and were always able to somehow be financially supportive of me playing throughout the years.
I know for a lot of young families, financing sports for your children can come at a financial burden to the family, but there are a lot of ways that you can save money with sports, or come up with the funds in unique ways so that if your kids want to participate, they don't have to feel like they're missing out due to financial restraints.
Start With Rec Sports:
Travel teams can be expensive, along with all the traveling that is involved, and club dues. If your child is trying a sport for the first time, start with your town's local parks and rec to see if they offer a recreational version of that sport before you commit to the more expensive club teams. Jay started playing sports this year and we've already taken advantage of our local baseball and swim teams, and plan to try soccer and basketball this year too. This will give him an opportunity to try all the sports and see which ones he likes best before we decide to commit to organizations that cost more, but also have more qualified coaches to help him develop in those sports.
Tryout for School Sports:
I'm not sure if this is the case for all schools across the country, but sports offered through both the public, and private high school that I went to were free. Obviously the public school was funded through taxpayer dollars, but I believe the private school was funded through the tuition money that was already being paid. High school/middle school sports are a great way to develop more in any given sport, get focused coaching from hired professionals, and avoiding the financial strain that comes from funding private sport leagues.
Have Your Kid's Pay for Their Sport:
Has your child exhausted all options at the rec or school level and are adamant on playing on a club team? See if there is a way for them to fund their sport on their own through birthday money, and allowances. If that isn't enough, encourage them to mow lawns or get a part time job. I worked all through high school and while my parent's paid registration fees for me, I was responsible for purchasing my own uniforms, and any extras that were involved. This was also the case for my school clothes and school uniforms when I attended private school.
Book Travel Early To Get The Best Deal:
Jay has a fun soccer camp this summer in Provo that we've known about for months. When we first got him setup for the camp, we knew it would be better to just get a hotel down there for the week instead of commuting each day. We booked through Hotels4Teams which was able to get us a hotel within a mile of his soccer camp. Since we made the reservations weeks ago, we haven't had to have that stress hanging over our heads and we've been able to enjoy our summer and prep for camp without that added worry.
Hotels4Teams is perfect for booking sports team travel since you can book one room, or a group of rooms at a time, and they're search engine can help you find a hotel that will be closest to where your sporting event will take place, along with fun travel guides to help you plan your free time while you're there!
What tips do you have for saving money on sports for your kids? Let me know in the comments below!
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