IS IT TOO EXPENSIVE TO PLAY FOR A COMPETITIVE SOCCER TEAM?

  For the sake of this analysis, let’s take the figure of $1,500.00 ($125 per month)
as the yearly direct cost of belonging to a competitive soccer team, This figure represents only the money that is directly paid to the Club for training, uniforms and Club expenses directly related to the program. These figures will not be exact for every Club, but will give a basic idea of cost and provide the format for a more knowledgeable person to compute a more exact cost for each individual Club.

    What is the hourly cost of the program, per player?

    Hours:
    Practice time:        35 weeks @ 4 hours per week    =     140  hours
    Games:        40 @ 2 ½  hours each    at field        =       100  hours
    Camps:        3 @ 10 each                =      30  hours
    Miscellaneous                            =      30  hours   
            Total, per year average            =    300 total hours

  In fact, the hourly cost of approximately $5.00 paid to the Club is a bargain!
By comparison most indoor leagues seem to cost about $10.00 an hour, without the benefit of trainings. In fact, it is a bargain compared to babysitting!

    The term “too expensive” is a relative term. For many families, the expense of belonging to a Soccer Club is a relatively insignificant part of their discretionary income.
  For these families, the time and gasoline money spent traveling to games and practices is an increasingly important consideration. Staying in hotels and eating in restaurants adds to the total cost that can become burdensome, to varying degrees, for some families who can afford the “direct costs” of training that are paid to the Club.

    Many Clubs are taking serious steps to limit these incidental expenses. Finding competitive games and tournaments closer to home is now becoming popular. Except for a few of the more isolated parts of the country, most teams will find excellent competition relatively close to home.

    A Club van or bus picking up players for practice, as is used in Europe by some
Clubs, might be considered in the future! This would save not only money, but parent time. An intermediate step, easily organized in the “email age” could be a more formal “Club” carpooling program where parents share the responsibility and costs over the year.

    Finally, Clubs might cooperate to “pool” their purchasing power and approach
Hotel chains and have them bid for their patronage through “real” discounted hotel rooms. The same could be done for restaurants.

                   By -  Herbert Ziemer