Parents cry foul over pricey club-sports teams for kids that can cost as much as $10K to play: Insanity

Parents across America are crying foul over the exorbitant fees and growing demands of organized youth sports — especially club and travel teams that can cost as much as $10,000 a year to play.“I was an All-American, national championship winner, captain of my team,” said Caitlin Murray, a content creator and mom-of-three who played varsity lacrosse at Middlebury College.“I have never experienced the level of insanity of what sports has become for kids today.” Growing up, she mastered her sport through summer leagues and sports camps.

Now, she said, the only option for kids after second or third grade is to join expensive club teams, which travel to tournaments two or three weekends a month during the season — which can last half a year or more.“It’s like a conspiracy,” said Murray, whose kids — ages 7, 10 and 12 — focus on lacrosse but are also on soccer, flag football, swim and ski teams.“It’s expensive as s–t.

It costs thousands of dollars to be on a team, and then it costs thousands of dollars to attend these tournaments in addition.You’re talking about travel costs, hotel costs.”Then there’s the time commitment, which typically requires them Murray and her husband, who live in Westchester, NY, to divide and conquer.

“Every weekend [he] will have to go with my son, or I’ll go with my daughter, and vice versa,” she said.“I don’t see him during lacrosse season.”Even Kerri Walsh Jennings — a three-time Olympic gold medalist in volleyball who now has her own tournament, Hero Volley — thinks it’s gone too far.“When I was growing up, sports had seasons,” said Walsh Jennings, who lives in Nevada and has three children in their teens who all play club volleyball.

“Today, many young athletes compete year-round … Every parent wants to give their child every opportunity.”She wonders whether the intensity of clubs sports, which often see children focus on a single sport, at a young age and year-round is re...