" Affordability" of sports

truck
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3859
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Louisville, KY, USA
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12/18/2025 8:12pm

Two kids in competitive gymnastics, easily spent 25k on it this year. Almost all of the expense is coaching, gym time, and travel for meets. Leotards and their personal equipment isn't terrible. They love it and it's been great for their physical and mental health. No expectation of any kind of return on investment beyond that but the one is on pace to be able to compete in college if she wants to. Used to kind of hate it and the time and money we spent on it but the older they get and the more I see the ways it's matured them beyond their peers that don't have something similar in their life the more I'm OK with it. Definitely less drama and politics than a lot of the club team sports. Kind of like racing, when it's time to perform, they're out there all alone and you either put up or shut up. 

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2
DaveNoones
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Edwardsville, IL, USA
12/19/2025 6:11am
truck wrote:
Two kids in competitive gymnastics, easily spent 25k on it this year. Almost all of the expense is coaching, gym time, and travel for meets. Leotards...

Two kids in competitive gymnastics, easily spent 25k on it this year. Almost all of the expense is coaching, gym time, and travel for meets. Leotards and their personal equipment isn't terrible. They love it and it's been great for their physical and mental health. No expectation of any kind of return on investment beyond that but the one is on pace to be able to compete in college if she wants to. Used to kind of hate it and the time and money we spent on it but the older they get and the more I see the ways it's matured them beyond their peers that don't have something similar in their life the more I'm OK with it. Definitely less drama and politics than a lot of the club team sports. Kind of like racing, when it's time to perform, they're out there all alone and you either put up or shut up. 

Yeah your way above the stated 1,000.00 year, hell it costs 1k a year to drive to events

DaveNoones
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Edwardsville, IL, USA
12/19/2025 6:13am
SKIDLID wrote:
The high school kids I coach in hockey have up to $450 hockey sticks. Two weeks ago, in our first game they broke 6 sticks that...

The high school kids I coach in hockey have up to $450 hockey sticks. Two weeks ago, in our first game they broke 6 sticks that night, average them out to $300 each and that is almost $2000 lost in one night.  Two years ago, one of the local high school teams had the bus broke into between games and lost $40,000 worth of sticks, each kid has at least two if not 3 sticks. 

JJO741 wrote:
As someone who has played hockey for a very long time, I know the pain. Buying brand new, high end sticks from Bauer, CCM, Warrior, etc...

As someone who has played hockey for a very long time, I know the pain. Buying brand new, high end sticks from Bauer, CCM, Warrior, etc. is just not a good financial investment. Perform great, break easy. Hockey is a great sport, but it continues to price itself out of the common person’s budget, even at entry level. Seems to be a problem across the board in every sport now. 

Then theres the ICE rental or Ice Time

DaveNoones
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Edwardsville, IL, USA
12/19/2025 6:15am
SKIDLID wrote:
The high school kids I coach in hockey have up to $450 hockey sticks. Two weeks ago, in our first game they broke 6 sticks that...

The high school kids I coach in hockey have up to $450 hockey sticks. Two weeks ago, in our first game they broke 6 sticks that night, average them out to $300 each and that is almost $2000 lost in one night.  Two years ago, one of the local high school teams had the bus broke into between games and lost $40,000 worth of sticks, each kid has at least two if not 3 sticks. 

j368 wrote:
That’s insane for a hockey stick. Back when I was playing in high school we got 2 free sticks a week. If you broke them the...

That’s insane for a hockey stick. Back when I was playing in high school we got 2 free sticks a week. If you broke them the next one you paid for. You’re not scoring more goals with a $450 stick. Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito and many after them did okay with a lot cheaper stick. 

Well, we're not winning races with 999.00 exausts either

The Shop

DaveNoones
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Edwardsville, IL, USA
12/19/2025 6:17am
OwenJakes wrote:

You’re so rich and core for spending so much money

DaveNoones wrote:

and your from the most toothless uneducated state in the nation, and you meet the next state to the east

 

OwenJakes wrote:

With a reply like that, you must live here too. 

no the other shithole to your left

1
Dave v3.0
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Ozark, AL, USA
12/19/2025 7:03am
Spoonguy wrote:
There are a dozen high schools within 50 miles of me. Most with 500-600 kids. All have multi-million dollar artificial turf football fields, premium running tracks...

There are a dozen high schools within 50 miles of me. Most with 500-600 kids. All have multi-million dollar artificial turf football fields, premium running tracks, tennis courts, olympic sized swimming pools, so yeah youth sports isn't cheap.

RichieW13 wrote:

Supposedly the artificial turf fields are cheaper than grass in the long run. 

My high school stadium and field was built during the Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps.  Sometime in the early 1930's.  Grass still grows on it and the concrete amphitheater seating is still in place.  It's coming up on 100 years of continuous use and it works just fine for it's intended use.  I have great memories of lining that field before every home game in the mid-70's.  Some kid is still making those memories today.

Our local county government is forced to stay within it's budget and the locals won't fall for bond issues because "it's for the kids" anymore.  Sometimes it just requires the gumption to say "that's a want, not a need"

2
early
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University Heights, OH, USA
12/19/2025 7:11am
truck wrote:
Two kids in competitive gymnastics, easily spent 25k on it this year. Almost all of the expense is coaching, gym time, and travel for meets. Leotards...

Two kids in competitive gymnastics, easily spent 25k on it this year. Almost all of the expense is coaching, gym time, and travel for meets. Leotards and their personal equipment isn't terrible. They love it and it's been great for their physical and mental health. No expectation of any kind of return on investment beyond that but the one is on pace to be able to compete in college if she wants to. Used to kind of hate it and the time and money we spent on it but the older they get and the more I see the ways it's matured them beyond their peers that don't have something similar in their life the more I'm OK with it. Definitely less drama and politics than a lot of the club team sports. Kind of like racing, when it's time to perform, they're out there all alone and you either put up or shut up. 

At what age did your kids go all-in on gymnastics? Were they really into it from a young age or did they turn a corner somewhere? My wife was on a highschool team with a girl that went to UK on a gymnastics scholarship, it's very very competitive, congrats on having some very talented and hardworking kids.

OwenJakes
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sebree, KY, USA
12/19/2025 7:54am
El_Rayo wrote:

Bro got so butthurt, and for what 😂

OwenJakes wrote:
bro this thread and the other one:“I’m 6’2” 200 pounds and super ripped”We got some real ballers here on vital mx. Blowing thousands at a time...

bro this thread and the other one:

“I’m 6’2” 200 pounds and super ripped”

We got some real ballers here on vital mx. Blowing thousands at a time at the dealership. Idk bro I guess we’re just cheeks😂😂😂

TeamGreen wrote:

I’m short, fat, old, slow…and I’ve got a coupl’a knees made with stuff from “the parts counter”…

But, I absolutely love this shit.

💪🏼

How the knee feeling? You mobile? Physio?

Village Idiot
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MXoN - a term used by newbs, goobs and rubes, PW, USA
12/19/2025 9:33am
Spoonguy wrote:
There are a dozen high schools within 50 miles of me. Most with 500-600 kids. All have multi-million dollar artificial turf football fields, premium running tracks...

There are a dozen high schools within 50 miles of me. Most with 500-600 kids. All have multi-million dollar artificial turf football fields, premium running tracks, tennis courts, olympic sized swimming pools, so yeah youth sports isn't cheap.

RichieW13 wrote:

Supposedly the artificial turf fields are cheaper than grass in the long run. 

Dave v3.0 wrote:
My high school stadium and field was built during the Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps.  Sometime in the early 1930's.  Grass still grows on it...

My high school stadium and field was built during the Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps.  Sometime in the early 1930's.  Grass still grows on it and the concrete amphitheater seating is still in place.  It's coming up on 100 years of continuous use and it works just fine for it's intended use.  I have great memories of lining that field before every home game in the mid-70's.  Some kid is still making those memories today.

Our local county government is forced to stay within it's budget and the locals won't fall for bond issues because "it's for the kids" anymore.  Sometimes it just requires the gumption to say "that's a want, not a need"

They built a new HS in the district here a little over a decade ago. There is an architectural wood beam in the cafeteria that cost over $200,000 (then, so probably double that or more now). Not structural, simply decorative... and yet the cry of "we need more money for education - teachers are buying supplies out of their own pockets", never ends.

You know someone is getting greased when that kind of crap is going on.

4
truck
Posts
3859
Joined
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Location
Louisville, KY, USA
Fantasy
12/19/2025 10:05am
truck wrote:
Two kids in competitive gymnastics, easily spent 25k on it this year. Almost all of the expense is coaching, gym time, and travel for meets. Leotards...

Two kids in competitive gymnastics, easily spent 25k on it this year. Almost all of the expense is coaching, gym time, and travel for meets. Leotards and their personal equipment isn't terrible. They love it and it's been great for their physical and mental health. No expectation of any kind of return on investment beyond that but the one is on pace to be able to compete in college if she wants to. Used to kind of hate it and the time and money we spent on it but the older they get and the more I see the ways it's matured them beyond their peers that don't have something similar in their life the more I'm OK with it. Definitely less drama and politics than a lot of the club team sports. Kind of like racing, when it's time to perform, they're out there all alone and you either put up or shut up. 

early wrote:
At what age did your kids go all-in on gymnastics? Were they really into it from a young age or did they turn a corner somewhere...

At what age did your kids go all-in on gymnastics? Were they really into it from a young age or did they turn a corner somewhere? My wife was on a highschool team with a girl that went to UK on a gymnastics scholarship, it's very very competitive, congrats on having some very talented and hardworking kids.

Around 2nd or 3rd grade. Prior to that they also did basketball, soccer, baseball, whatever else they wanted to do. They still take piano lessons as well but that's the only other extracurricular activity these days. At some point I told them you can do whatever you want to do but you can't do it all, not enough hours in the day. They do about 15-18 hours of structured practice per week and couple hours of open gym, about 10 meets per year in the winter, 2 or 3 camps in the summer. When they went all in I thought they'd miss the other stuff and that would be the end of competitive route but the exact opposite happened. They'd be at the gym 7 days a week if we let them, they hide injuries so we don't make them take time off. It really is similar to riding for us. They feel free and at peace in the gym just working on skills where nobody bothers them and they've gotten incredibly close doing it all together. Definitely not for everyone but the kid will let you know in a hurry if it's their thing. Wife and I have no history with the sport and we totally stumbled into it as a family. 

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