What do Team Fees Really Cover
Depending on where you live, what age your player is, and the level of competitiveness of the team you’re on, team fees can vary greatly.
We’ll break it down so you can see the variety of things that often get thrown in so you’re well educated when it comes time to pick a program.
Side Note: I’ve got the perspective of being a baseball mom AND a being a facility/team owner. I’ve been both.
There are the obvious things like tournament/league fees and uniforms. If you have a paid coach or a paid trainer (like a pitching instructor who comes once a week to work with the players), that’s another fairly obvious expense.
But you also need to take into account these variables. Insurance costs. Field rental costs (for practices - most game day fields are included in the league/tournament fees). Facility rental costs (for practice when it rains). Umpire costs for scrimmages or pick up games not covered by league play. Travel expenses like gas/tolls for your coaches (especially if they’re volunteer). Even field rentals vary widely - fields with an in demand location, beautiful grass or turf, and/or lights will cost you a pretty penny. The more times a week you practice on those fields, the more the expense.
Competitive teams, especially ones with some kind of ranking, will have higher fees because they almost always have a paid coach (or two), built-in training from strength training or pitching coaches, and those high-end tournaments that you see on social media that cost a lot of money. Then you have to also factor in your own personal expenses in regards to travel.
If you’re part of a team that is associated with a facility, you may not think you’re paying a rental fee for use of the practice space. Think again. While you may not pay each time your team walks in the door for practice, your team fees will factor in things like heat, electric, taxes and cleaning expenses. Not to mention the cost of paying a facility administrator who handles the logistics of each team.
Think of it this way. When you go to a Broadway show, you have complete sticker shock. $175 per ticket for a 2 hour show?? (and that’s on the low side lol!) Then you see all the stage design, the elaborate hand-made costumes, the 10-piece orchestra in the pit, all the workers in the lobby and behind the stage, and it starts to make a little more sense.
If you’re lucky enough to find a program you like with a booster program, or one with an established list of corporate sponsors, your fees should reflect that.
So as you’re looking for programs consider things like
how many practices do you want a week?
Do you want league play plus tournaments? And what caliber tournaments are you looking for?
Do you want volunteer coaches or a paid instructor?
Do you want access to a facility for all the services and amenities they offer?
Are you prepared to use the majority of your paid time off to travel to these games and tournaments?
Choosing a program is a very personal decision. Hopefully this list helps with the financial piece of that deliberation. Good luck!