How Much Do You Spend on Sports per Month/year per Child?

HOLY COW! Some of these answers floor me!

We probably spend about $400/year (uniforms and entry fees) and my son (11) played soccer, baseball (2 teams), basketball, tennis, tennis lessons (summer and winter) and golf lessons.

DS is 8 and we are signing him up for his first I-9 flag football league - $135 for the season.

WOW - This does explain why people don't have the money to put away for college or retirement. I guess the question last week should have read - kid's sports, college or retirement - which is most important?

We spend about $375 per month plus another ~$250 for music. The music is really pricey as are horseback riding lessons... I love when a week is skipped for some reason and we don't have to pay. ;)

My daughter was in cheer, she has since graduated high school. We spent an average of $5000 a year on competitions, training, clothing.

She was not in competitive cheer which is more expensive. We just didn't have the hours in a week to pursue both competitive and being on the school squad. She spent 2 hours plus at and after school daily with practice.

She also trained in martial arts for about 6 years and achieved her black belt. We paid roughly $200 a month, we paid extra for special testing, the black belt test and certification.

Oh yeah, she was in orchestra as well which was not very expensive for lessons ($1/minute) but her beautifully sounding violin was $3000. Yes, she still plays it.

I know the sports are expensive but it is SO good to have the children involved and motivated.

My kids are 4 and 5 so right now we stick to doing sports through the rec programs. Right now I spend between 50-60 a season, and that's for both kids! I'm sure the expense will go up as they get older, but for now they're as happy as can be.

My kids play sports at the Catholic school they attend. Fees are about $75 per sport, and the jersey they wear is $25, but this jersey is worn for kickball, basketball and volleyball, and can be worn for as long as it fits. Football was a bit more expensive.
I would say, for our older kids, who each play 2-3 sports, we spend about $300/kid/year for all sports, and that includes uniforms and entry fees to the gyms for games.

My girls are in ballet. A long time ago, the mom of an older girl told me that being a ballet mom is like being a frog that is put in a pot of cold water that's slowly boiling. She told me that by the time you realize the water is boiling, it's too late to get out! I think that's a great analogy.

When the girls started out in ballet, taking a 30-minute Creative Movement class once per week, I think it was $35/month or something. Now that the 11 year old is in a pre-professional program, she's at the ballet studio several hours per day, 6 days per week. We pay $275/month for that, but that doesn't include any private lessons (which you need in order to learn the variations you have to perform for various auditions, etc). That also doesn't include the cost of pointe shoes (which are around $100/pair and only last 12-15 hours total), tights ($20/pair, though they do last forever), leotards (god help us, she loves the Yumiko ones at $80 each)... I would say that in an average month, we are well over $400 for her ballet classes and related expenses. In the summer, she participates in Summer Intensive (which is like a summer camp, but they dance 8 hours per day). This year it will be a 3 week program in another state - we are looking at $3,000 for that (not including airfare to and from).

My younger daughter is 8 and takes class twice per week for a reasonable $100/month. Ballet slippers every few months for $20, hand-me-down tights and leotards from big sister - free! Summer camp a bargain at $750 (day camp) for 3 weeks. (See what I mean about being like a frog in slowly boiling water? Only 3 years ago, this is what I was paying for both kids!)

None of our kids were into anything highly competitive. The most $ we spent on any kid was when SD did riding lessons for a bit, which were $300-$350 per set of classes at a local stable. My SS was the least expensive and his wrestling camp was something like $35 the last year he went. And there have been thing in between. Currently our daughter takes dance lessons that are under $200 for the set of classes (somewhere between 15 and 21 classses, so the price varies on the schedule). We looked very hard for a dance school that was not competitive. Competitive Irish Step Dancing can be $300 for the outfit alone. The bottom line for us is it needs to be something the child is into (no pushing SD to keep ice skating if she doesn't really enjoy it) and it needs to be in budget.

Not including equipment (cleats, glove, bat, etc), but including uniforms, we spend:

For my son, approximately $600 per year, broken down as
$125-150 on baseball (spring season)
$125 on soccer (fall season)
$240 on swim team (summer)
$75 on a casual summer soccer league

For my daughter, approximately $2000 per year (Oh my gosh, putting that in writing is scary!!!!), broken down as
$60/month gymnastics (ongoing)
$100/month swim lessons (ongoing)
Fortunately, swim lessons will continue for about 2-2.5 years and then stop, so we won't have to spend that much forever.

It's not too bad for my son. We limit him to one sport at a time and, for now, take the winters off. My daughter's are all ongoing, but only once a week per activity.

My sons both play premier soccer. That costs $2500 a year....per kid...plus signups which is another $350 per kid.
But we are broke. So, since my kids are good and the club offers scholorships, the club pays all of our fees.
What they don't pay is all the tournament fees we pay (about $500 a year, per kid), travel expenses (we go out of state twice a year and travel to the other side of the state 4 times a year....hotels, gas, food...about $1,000 a year), uniform ($85 for one kid and $150 for the other), shoes (2 pairs a year...about $300 for the both of them), and I think that's it!
My husband works like a dog to be able to let our kids do this. I am also looking to work out of the home or get back to school. I cut corners on everything! Second hand, hand me down, coupons, Buy Nothing Facebook groups. We don't go out to eat, we don't really do anything else BUT soccer. And it's a huge expense.
L.

DS used to play soccer that was $80 for a two month season in the fall and again in the spring. Plus he needed shin guards and cleats. In between he did springboard diving once a week. Each 3 month season ended up costing $250 by the time we paid the lesson, insurance, meet, and membership fee.

Now he only does ballet (I also dance).
This year (2nd grade) just under $800 for the school year. $150 for the summer.
Next year (moves up to the "academy" so more, longer, more serious lessons) closer to $1800 for the school year. $300 for the summer.
There are no other fees though besides replacing shoes and uniform pieces when he wears them out or grows out of them.

My son does rec baseball, basketball, swimming and football. He is only 12 but is only allowed one sport each season. Spring is baseball and that runs $200 for registration fees and that includes uniform. I supply his equipment so his bat is between $300-$400, cleats are about $50 and food at the games all season is probably $50, and indoor practice when it's rainy is probably about $100. My DH coaches his team so factor in time and we're at the fields 4-5 nights a week and that eats up the gas. My 2 year old thinks it's normal to be at the baseball fields every night. Be even worse when he does travel next year. That's around $5k+. Basketball my DH coaches too so he does get a free basketball so all we pay is the $140 league fees and the basketball shoes which are about $60-$70. Swimming is in the summer so we pay $100 for the league fees and the swimsuit is about $40 and about $50 all season for food since we're at the meets at 6:30-7:00 am each Saturday.

I think it all depends on what you want your child to get out of it. Where we live (and i see you're also from this area), it's VERY competitive. My kids are young right now so I'm not quite in the throng yet, but I can already see it starting. If my son is happy doing certain activities then I keep him in them if not he's out. I don't want to force him into something he's not enjoying since it just makes it harder for me to get him there. Anyway, I also took my neighbors advice in only keeping him in 2 activities per week. It becomes very stressful when I have to drive him and his brother all over. My younger son isn't in activities yet, but my older son is in swimming for $90 per month and tennis for $85 per month. When it's can't be avoided he does take on a third activity but I try to keep it to a school based activity that doesn't involved me driving him anywhere. For example, he's in piano lessons at school right now. That cost $150 for an 8 week class. Another difference for me too, is that when I was a kid most of these activities were available at the school level or you did a summer program. All of which were free or very low cost. Not the case now with cut budgets/programs.

Baseball: roughly $200 for the regular season, double that for all star or travel. Fall ball is a lot cheaper, if we do it...
Plus equipment, clothing.
Camps, maybe 1 or 2 per year at about $150 per camp, max.

Deck hockey, YMCA league, 60-80 per season.
1 or 2 sessions per year.

Basketball is pretty cheap...$60 maybe. 1/yr...

My 12 yo plays competitive soccer; $2500 fees plus uniform and travel expenses puts us over $3000 a year. That does not include private sessions ($20 a week), cleats ($70 a pair), balls (4x$20), Olympic Development Program ($350 + travel), or camps ($900 - $1800 each).
10 yo plays rec soccer + private sessions, volleyball, and swimming; everything for her is probably $1000/yr.

I am not sure how much we spend a month, because usually the fees and things are due per season. My daughter cheers and for varsity it is $1500 per season plus various expenses throughout the year. She also plays softball which is $100 for the season plus cleats, uniform, bat, and glove,but we only replace those as needed. Tennis is free, but we have to buy her uniform(tennis skirts, shoes) and rackets about $50 each. Then she does color guard as well which we pay $300 for camp and around $100 for costume and then $300 for competition for school and then she is on an elite winter guard team that cost $500 a season plus traveling fees.

My oldest son is in football, basketball and track all free except for shoes :)
My middle son does football and power lifting. They both go to football camps over the summer around $500 for that.
My youngest is in karate which runs $100 per month.

My kids are almost 5, almost 3, and 9 months, but swim lessons for all 3 is around $178/month and dance for my oldest is about $80/month. I want to put my middle in gymnastics in the fall, which is another $80/month, I think.
I don't think of it as "each kid gets $x", but they each get to try something individual at 3 and try team sports around 5. Swimming is non-negotiable and will continue until they advance enough for team. Then, and only then, will they have the option of stopping.

$210 a month(every month) for gymnastics. It will go up to $260 this summer. $200 a year for soccer for my son to do a non competive soccer league. A few hundred a year on swim lesson sessions. During the summer we do a soccer camp for $100 too. We also do art lessons during the summer for around $160 total for fun. My kids are under 6!

Judo for hubby and both kids is 225 a month. I then spend another hundred or so on classes. Starting next month, both kids will be in soccer.

My son plays basketball ($165 fall), Lacross ($325 all year), ice hockey (winter $500+), baseball ($280 spring), soccer ($250 spring/summer) and karate ($150/month all year).

These all include practice, uniforms (some teams is just a tee shirt), and gear. Except for hockey...we have to pay for extra ice time to practice, and we buy new equipment and gear as needed.

It seems like a lot but he doesn't play them all at once so maybe $1500+ a year?

I have 2 kiddo's in classes, she's in 4 and he's in 2. The fee is $150 per month for 6 hours of classes. I work for the family like a scholarship and it brings my cost way down.

We've done BMX which is not an inexpensive sport by any means...it's rather expensive if you travel at all to other tracks.

We've also done soccer, T-Ball, football, and more but have found that the kids really enjoy the classes they're in.

That doesn't mean we won't do other activities as they become available though. The kids love being busy and doing stuff.

My youngest daughter plays rec league softball. With fees and supplies (socks, pants, etc) we pay about $200 per year.

My oldest plays travel basketball and for her high school team so she plays just about all year round. The school league is free (until you add up all the money for shoes, socks, practice gear, team sweatshirt, etc). The travel team dues are about $900 a year and then there's the money for traveling (food, gas and lodging). So add another $1,000 bucks for that.

I hear travel soccer is even more expensive. I'm just glad my girls are active and engaged in sports. I was not as a kid so I had more time and opportunity to get into trouble. But the best part is that I LOVE watching them play!

My oldest son (15) plays hockey...$1200 for a full season of an inexpensive league (plus equipment of course) and another $550 a year to play for his high school team. He's now at the point where the recreational league plays a half season to accommodate the high school season so we're down to $600 for that instead of $1200. We probably spend around $500 a year on equipment, and most of that is used

My middle son (9) plays house league hockey at $800 a season. Next year he'll move up to a full team at $1200-1400 depending on what league we choose. Plus equipment at about $200 a year. He also plays lacrosse...$175 a season plus equipment.

Youngest son (8) plays soccer...about $100 for fall, another $125 for an 8-week winter clinic, and maybe another $75 - $100 for spring if he doesn't play lacrosse, which he played last year.

My daughter (16) does mixed martial arts. Her current gym in $120 a month (we negotiated a discount down from $150). Some other gyms were a little more or a little less - she switches around based on schedules, classes, etc.

It really does add up to crazy money! I thought hockey was expensive until I talked to gymnastics and dance parents - those fees can be totally insane!

My daughter is a competitive dancer, JUST the classes are $265/month. We pay more than that though with costumes, shoes, competitions, fees, pictures, travel, etc...it evened out to just over $5k last year (including finals...which is kind of a family vacation).

My boys do baseball/football/basketball. Those sports are about $100 per kid per season. So $300 total for the year for each boy. Plus pictures and one time of snacks per kid per seaon, so it's probably about $1k for the boys total.

But they are different and have different likes. I also expect the boys to pick a sport they like best in the next few years and become more competitive with that...so the costs will rise.

I try to aim for $200/mo per child for sports. Hockey is $800 a season and soccer, baseball, lacrosse are cheaper so it averages out. Martial arts is $165/mo for one child.

I had lumped music classes in with the general activities budget, but now with my daughter doing piano and voice, I'm well over the monthly budget. It's a challenge to want to keep them moving forward and developing their interests, but not go too crazy with the finances. I figure we hardly go on vacations, so our extra money goes to activities.

I have never thought about how much we spend a year. Yikes. Maybe I don't want to know. I spend $40 a month for dance lessons for 4 months a year for my daughter. I pay $75 for Kinderkick once a year through the YMCA. I spend $300 each winter for ski team for my son. And I spend $50 a month for gymnastics for him for about 4 months a year. They get rockclimbing classes in the summer for $65 each. They might do swim lessons once a year for $40 each. So for two kids I spend a total of $945. So, let's just average it out to $470 per child a year.