How much it really costs to play sports

By Brody Patmore
Sports Editor

Sports provide many opportunities like a Red Lion athlete feeling on top of the world after beating Dallastown, setting a new record, or simply just having fun with friends.

However, sports require equipment and fees that aren’t cheap. So this begs the question, is the cost worth it?

Required equipment for just one soccer players includes a pair of cleats, shin guards, and a bag among other smaller items. However, just these three could cost around $400 in total. My cleats alone cost me $165. Soccer isn’t the only sport that has expensive prices for equipment. Baseball isn’t cheap either, with just a bat and a glove totaling somewhere around $275.

Ok, we get it, we get it equipment for sports isn’t cheap, but that’s not even that much money so what’s the big deal?

Well, in addition to the financial costs of equipment if a child participates in a sport at the club level they have to pay just to have a spot on the team. Fees can come in monthly or once a year depending on the club. Over a year’s time, the fees can add up to the thousands.

As well as required payment, the expenses of traveling add up as well. Sometime longs trips require many stops for gas and maybe even staying a few nights at a hotel.

With all of these expenses is participating in a sport even worth it?

In my opinion, yes, playing sports is worth the financial costs that it comes with. Playing sports allow athletes to broaden their horizons in so many ways. It gives them the chance to make new friends that they could possibly never have met otherwise.

Personally, playing club soccer I have made friends that I wouldn’t even know if we didn’t play together. Sports also make for some of the best memories. Beating Dallastown or Central are sporting accomplishments that I’ll never forget how and who I did it with. The great friendships and memories that participating in a team sport allowed me to have I believe were well worth every penny that it may have costed.

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