Parents sometimes have to carry the costs of school sports. Those costs get higher as the child progresses in school. By the time they are in high school, an inexpensive sport is now a significant expense on the family budget. Although, the pain of paying it will be worth it if a college scholarship is the end result. So while having a teen in sports is not cheap, the intangible payback such as self-confidence that school sports give are well worth the extra cost.
One key expense that parents pay is for the cost of feeding teenage athletes. Grocery bills skyrocket when it comes to teens in general. But with the added energy expended in sports, those bills become astronomical. The best advice in keeping costs down is to use a lot of coupons and shop the sales. Either that or have them eat over at a friend’s house.
Another huge expense that parents have to shell out for is for sporting camps. Many school sporting activities run camps that they would like your student to attend. This is a huge burden on parents who are put under the pressure for teens to attend these camps. Parents can relieve some of this pressure by having their teens take on a job that pays for part of it and helping the school with their fundraisers for these camps to reduce the cost.
Of course, none of these costs include the extra gas required for practices, tickets for family members to see the game, the team t-shirts, the extra costs from necessary safety equipment, and the extra laundry detergent for those played-in uniforms. Teens that play a sport do add significantly to a parent’s budget. Seeing the benefits that teens gain from their sport is worth the price its costs just to see them play.
