The cost of travel ball vs the cost of a college education

[jofus]

"My DD is only 12 (turning 13 this Saturday )"
Hey Jofus our DDs share the same B-day

Cool, how old is yours gonna be?

I can't believe that my baby is going to be 13....it seems like I was just dropping her off for her first day of Kindergarten

[Judd]

That 3k price is low. Between pitching and hitting, we will spend over 5k a year just in lessons. DD is only 12U and we havent really thought about her playing college ball. We do it because she likes to play and wants to be better. I

[softball_parent]

I know that $3,000 is low, I just didn't want to feel to bad at the moment. $5,000 is probably the more likely yearly price especially in the upper ages. OK so we spent close to $50,000.

[Kat]

I know that $3,000 is low, I just didn't want to feel to bad at the moment. $5,000 is probably the more likely yearly price especially in the upper ages. OK so we spent close to $50,000.

But time spent with your DD and friends you have made...PRICELESS!!! Hey Isee a commercial in there.

[softball_parent]

yes but probably could have had the same experiences in church activities, girls scouts or a number of other activities like family vacations that wouldn't have been quite so expensive and equally as priceless.

[Kat]

yes but probably could have had the same experiences in church activities, girls scouts or a number of other activities like family vacations that wouldn't have been quite so expensive and equally as priceless.

This could be true, I don't know since we don't do vacations we are either racing, at basketball, volleyball or softball games... maybe in my next life I can answer that question.

[noclu13]

The advantages of travel ball far out weigh the cost. Our daughters learn life lessons at an early age that many kids donj't learn until they go away to college. How to fly, check in at hotels, find your luggage, use maps, get places on time, learning time management, dealing with people and many other life skills. Our daughters are better prepared for life.
Getting a scholarship is nice but travel ball is about getting into a college but maybe not so much about the scholarship. Face facts, there are only so many scholarship dollars out there and not everybody gets them.
As for cost. It is easy to figure. In California, State schools run 16 to 20 thousand a year which includes books, tuition, housing and expenses. The UC schools run 21 to 25 thousand per year for books, tuition, housing and expenses.
Private schools all over the country are typically 38 to 45 thousand per year.
So that $5000 per year you spent on travel ball when you add it all up would have paid for a couple of years of public Universities and slightly over a year at a private school.
Getting any kind of atheltic scholarship beats this and if you add in the academic money you can get at most schools due to the abilities your daughter shows (good grades, athleting ability, time management, etc) the you are money ahead.
And if your daughter gets nothing from her college but an education but you spent 6 years traveling around with your daughter, you can't put a monetary value on that.
It's not about the money.

[softball_parent]

Those are great lessons but they can also be learned doing many other activities. It's not the softball its the opportunities, the structure, the involved parents, etc. You could also get that in church youthgroups, girls scouts, choir, dance, etc. My son is part of an organization and has been to washington DC 4 times and Hawaii once and we have probably only spent $1,000 total in the 7 years he has been part of it. He has learned the same lessons. Academic money is not that easy to get if you aren't need based as a family. Believe me I have spent hours researching it. I am well aware of the costs of college as I now have two in college. I am also aware of the athletic ones as my daughter received a great softball scholarship until an injury. All I am saying is that I spent a heck of a lot of money and it sure would be nice to have some of it now.

[isnt she fancy]

I started to go back and add it all up and then hesitated and then started again. I think California people have it easier maybe? We travel 2 hours to practice with a gold team. We travel 5 hours by plane to play California...Our one big tournament..The Team NJ is fortunately only an hour and ahalf. I am so grateful she can now drive herself and her sister to pitching lessons. That gives me back 3 hours in one day! Each time we go out of state, )Florida Rising Stars, Champions Cup California, Colorado, Oklahoma, etc) it costs about a thousand dollars between air, hotel, food and car. Onc daughter plays gold and the other plays 18U and sometimes, sometimes, if I am really lucky, they play in the same state and halleluia when its the same tournament!!! My girls have the privilege of attending private school. I told them that if they want to go to college, then they have to figure out how to pay for it. They could get academic scholarships, athletic scholarships, take out a loan(I strongly discourage...)or attend a small local college for less money. The first daughter has accepted a full ride offer (D1) this fall for which we are grateful and feel very blessed. The second is beginning to look for opportunities now. I love watching my girls play. Spending the weekends with them has been wonderful and we often have to go without something else so they learn sacrifice and compromise too. I took my Mom with me to Florida in January. She was shocked and surprised to see how grueling a weekend away is and this is with my daughter already committed to a school!!!I will say that yes the college scholarship outweighs what we have spent but there are experiences that are valuable too.
Guess what. I signed the 9 year old up for Little League on Saturday... Back to where it all began

[coolstuff]

I think most have touched on the fact that it really isn't about the money and really SHOULD NOT be about the money or a college scholarship.

We do it because DD wants to and she enjoys it. She's a straight-A honors student and we have the ability to pay for her college so I'm not worried too much about it. DD wants to play in college, but it's not about an athletic scholarship.

I can't believe what some of you are paying for lessons. We go to a well-respected and highly recommended hitting coach who is 40 minutes away. The lessons are not private but limited to 4 players. She attends a session with two other players. Even if she went every week for a year, the total cost would be $1300 (or $25/hr.) And she doesn't go every week. Some of you say you are paying more than twice that amount!