Quote:
Originally Posted by razorbacker
Softball only gets 12 total scholarships. Most girls get 33-50% of a scholarship. If their goal is to pay for college, take all of the money they spend traveling across the country and put it into a 529 plan and they are set. Their goal should be to play softball because they love the game, not for a potential reward.
I think most people don't realize this. I know I was surprised when I found out that only football and basketball players get full ride scholarships, as were several parents I told this to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by razorbacker
I have a friend who is taking his kid to Orlando for a 13u showcase. He is going to spend 6k for the potential reward of 2-5k a year. His kid will be lucky to start for his high school team and no one is scouting 13 year olds anyway. The showcase is the only group that is benefitting.
Yes, extremely excessive for 13 year olds. The only rationalization is that someone who does well at a u13 showcase will get experience and get more likely to make a good u14 team, then a good u15 team, etc.
But another part of it is just the experience. The kids enjoy it (hopefully), and any other hobby would be pretty expensive also.
Quote:
Originally Posted by razorbacker
The problem is the travel expense. The big volleyball tournaments are often 4 day events. It's pretty common to spend 10k a year (including travel) for club volleyball if you are on a national team. Nationals alone is going to be a week long tournament.
Yeah, I was only talking about the local club team. The club has a national team and the $1500/year goes to $3000/year in club fees alone, not including travel expenses or time.
Luckily, only the best player make that team and my daughter isn't one of them. I'm pretty realistic about her expectations--she's simply not going to be tall enough or athletic enough to get a D1 scholarship, so we do this so she can make her HS team. And she's smart enough to get into college without having to resort to getting in because of athletics. She does this because she enjoys it, gets exercise, and gets to meet new people.
I think a lot of parents feel similarly. E.g., while there are 150+ u14 teams in the region, there are only 70 or so u16 teams and even fewer u18 teams . . . by then, parents have a better understanding of just how good their child really is.