Weplay Moms

Sports are good for our kids. Exercise, fresh air, life lessons.

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Unfortunately, they are not so good for our wallets. Traveling costs. Sports equipment. Quick food.

For many families, sports may be too costly. But before you dismiss the option, consider these ways to do sports on a budget:

CHOOSE WISELY

• When your kids are young, do your research and look for sports that are not as expensive. Sports offered through a parks and recreation department will cost less (for equipment and fees) than those organized through competitive organizations.
• Avoid the temptation to sign your kids up for more than one sport at a time.
• Investigate the sport. If you think your child might change his mind about an expensive sport like ice hockey or football, attend a couple practices with him the year before and let him decide if he really wants to play.

SHOP SMART FOR EQUIPMENT

• Decide what equipment is really needed and what equipment is just fluff.
• Look for free equipment. Sites like Pitchinforbaseball.org, US Soccer's Passback and FreeStuffGreatDeals.com collect donated sports equipment.
• Rent Sports Equipment. Personal equipment should be new, but look for places that rent equipment like football shoulder pads or softball bats.
• Buy last year’s model. If you know your kid will play a sport next year, buy new equipment at end-of-the-season sales.
• Buy used equipment. Shop thrift stores, yard sales, Craigslist, eBay Freecycle, UsedSports, and PlayItAgainSports for used equipment.
• Borrow equipment. Ask friends and family if you can borrow. Try an swap with other parents in your community.
• Sell the old to buy new. As your child grows, sell old equipment and upgrade. There might be another family that would love to buy your child’s gently used equipment.
• Host an equipment exchange. If you have multiple children and are friends with other families who have multiple children, swap items with them.

CUT TRAVEL COSTS:

• Bring a cooler of drinks on trips. Drinks can cost $2 per bottle at a snackbar. Buy your own bottles at bulk prices or make drinks from powder, which costs under $10.
• Pack a lunch. It’s cheaper and healthier. If you’re going to a tournament with other families, take turns providing a team meal.
• When traveling, look for hotel discounts. Look for group discounts or online deals. Some hotels have programs which earn you free stays. Look for hotels with free breakfasts and refrigerators in the room.
• When traveling, try camping. Bring an RV or tent-trailer for weekend tournaments and camp near the ball field.

LOOK FOR CREATIVE ALTERNATIVES

• Some sporting leagues have early bird sign-up rates.
• Volunteer to coach. Sometimes coaches get discounts for their kids to participate in a league.
• Barter your skills. If you have a skill and want to learn a sport, try to find an instructor to trade lessons with, even art, cooking, or music lessons.
• Carpool. It saves money and time. Let’s say your son has soccer practice 20 minutes away from your home for one hour. Are you going to go drop him off, come back home, and go right back to pick him up again? Probably not. You will sit there in your car and read, answer emails, or surf Facebook. If you carpool, you would save yourself the hour sitting there waiting.
• Do It Yourself. If your child doesn’t care about competition, but likes to exercise, encourage them to play catch in the backyard, shoot hoops in the driveway, or kick around a soccer ball.
• Try Non-Team Sports. Sports like running and biking don’t have huge start-up costs and you can enjoy them with family and friends.

Parents must count the costs of any activity they or their children choose. My older brother gave me some very wise counsel when our kids were little.

“Invest in what you want them to become,” he said. “Spend your money on things that will put them on the path to becoming the type of person you want them to be.”

For our family, that path has been sports. Following that advice didn’t make the choices cheaper, but it gave direction to the money we spent on sports. We saw competition an an opportunity to invest in their character as well as their skills.