It was all the way back in 2019 that Sports Destination Management covered the issue of parents taking out loans, acquiring second jobs, going into debt and putting off retirement in order to finance their children’s sports.
One pandemic and a reset of the economy later, things have not improved. A survey shows that while parents want to keep their children in sports, the cost is becoming unreasonable. And, while those families with a household income of over $75,000 were more likely to report their children as playing sports, that demographic still accounts for a significant percentage of parents who have considered pulling their child out of the sport due to escalating fees.
Nearly all parents of minors (95 percent) believe children benefit from playing a sport, with more than two thirds (69 percent) feeling they benefit a great deal. In addition, parents who have children currently playing a sport are significantly more likely than those who do not to believe children benefit a great deal from playing a sport (74 percent vs. 43 percent)
Over 9 in 10 parents of minors (92 percent) say their children have played sports at one point. Among them, three quarters (75 percent) say they have strongly considered pulling their children out of sports. Cost appears to be a stronger driver for this consideration than the time commitment or poor academic performance. More than 1 in 5 parents of minors with children in sports (21 percent) cite the unsustainable cost of participating as a reason why they’ve considered removing them from a sport
Additionally, many parents of minors whose children ever played sports cite reasons such as concern about injuries (27 percent), negative team environment (26 percent), lack of enjoyment from child (24 percent) and poor coaching (22 percent).
Nearly 3 in 5 parents of minors whose children are currently playing sports (58 percent) say paying for the sports equipment their children need to play their sports has become a financial stress for their family.
More than half of parents of minors (56 percent) are worried they will not be able to put their children in a sport next year due to rising costs of participating in sports.
More than a third of parents of minors (36 percent) would consider signing their children up for sports in the future if it was more affordable.
But, said CBS News in a previous report, only about two percent of high school athletes win sports scholarships every year at NCAA colleges and universities. And the average scholarship isn’t that much (about $11,000) which leaves a lot of money to be made up by parents.
Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped the optimism; 20 percent of sports parents are certain that their child will secure a college athletic scholarship, make their way to the pros or be a member of the Olympic team. And somehow, the majority of parents still believe college scholarships will cover more than half of tuition, and one in 10 are optimistic their child will receive a full ride.
Additionally, parents often think the college scholarship will include an education the student can use in the future. In reality, says CBS News, Division I athletes may as well be called full-time employees of their schools because of the long hours they work. According to a NCAA survey, playing football required 43.3 hours per week; college baseball, 42.1 hours; men's basketball, 39.2 hours; and women's basketball, 37.6 hours.
Because of the huge time commitment, as well as time away from campus, Division I athletes will often not be able to major in rigorous disciplines, such as the sciences and engineering. Many therefore gravitate to easier majors, many of which make it more difficult to find a job after graduation, should they not be able to fall back on sports.
TD Ameritrade found that 41 percent of dads expect their children to become professional athletes. But the NCAA’s reality check is painful. Less than two percent of men’s basketball and football players will turn pro, as will less than one percent of women’s basketball players.
“Parents should encourage their kids to play multiple sports for their high school teams and save the money they would spend on club sports for college tuition if scholarship money does not materialize,” wrote Karissa Niehoff, executive director of the NFHS, in an online column. “Even in those situations where students are charged a modest fee to participate, school-based sports remain an incredible bargain when compared to club sports. In many cases, Division I football and basketball coaches are looking to recruit multiple-sport athletes. While there are a few sports where non-school competition is crucial, college coaches will find those athletes who excel in school-based sports.”
While Niehoff acknowledged that, according to the NCAA, 92 percent of Division I female basketball players and 89 percent of male basketball players participated in club ball, she also noted that less than one-quarter of all Division I college football players competed on a club team.
Some ammunition in the fight for kids (and parents) to remain realistic has also come from The Global Odds Index, a website “dedicated to the odds of life,” which has issued a reminder of just how rare it is for an athlete to reach the most elite levels of organized sports.
According to this article, the odds of becoming a top global soccer player for U.S. males is 1 in 55,393; if you live in Iceland, however, they’re only 1 in 83. U.S. female soccer players, on the other hand, comprise 8.70 percent of the world’s best players.
Not that parents are actually listening.
“It’s extremely difficult to make the pros; we all know that,” Tom Farrey, executive director of The Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program, told Mojo.Sport a website for sports parents. “A lot of parents today see those odds and say, ‘Well, I’d better get started early with my kid.’”
