It took only seconds for Rachel Kennedy to pick up the phone after exiting the checkout line at the sporting goods store, where she had just finished buying a new glove, pants, belt, shoes and the rest of the equipment for her son. . , Liam, next baseball season.
"I texted her dad and asked him, 'Did we really spend $ 350 on all of this last year?'" Kennedy said. The impact of decals on youth sports is nothing new, but the onslaught of double-digit inflation in the United States this year has added an expensive wrinkle in the way of baseball fields, swimming pools and dance studios in the United States.
It has forced some families, such as Kennedy's, to reduce the number of seasons, leagues or sports their children can play in a given year, encouraging league organizers to be more creative in devising ways to keep prices lower and increase participation. . Recent studies, conducted before inflation began to affect daily life in the United States, showed that families spend about $ 700 a year on children's sports, with travel and equipment accounting for the bulk of the expense.
Everyone from soccer coaches to swim match coordinators are struggling to find cheaper ways to get families in. Costs of uniforms and equipment, along with the rental of facilities, are skyrocketing, all products of the onslaught of supply chain problems, hard-to-find staff, lack of buses, and rising.
Kennedy, who lives in Monroe, Ohio, and describes her family as "the lowest level of the middle class," has decided not to let Liam participate in the summer and but why "those don't include all the equipment you need".
Dot the typical youth baseball schedule every season. The Kennedys rarely stayed in hotels for multi-day tournaments.
A study published by the Aspen Institute conducted before COVID-19 indicated that, on average, in all sports, parents were already spending more each year on travel ($ 196 per child, per sport) than on any other aspect of sport. . : team, lessons, registration. , etc. Various reports claim that hotel prices in some cities are around 30% higher than last year and about the same amount as in 2019, before the pandemic began. At venues, it costs more to hire referees to call matches, gardeners to keep fields ready, keepers to clean indoor venues, and coaches to run training.
Sports that are traditionally on the less expensive end of the spectrum are also struggling. " Said Steve Roush, a former Olympic world leader who is now executive director of Swimming Southern California, who respects the sanctions.“The current rate has just skyrocketed, and that's if you can find someone. And that explains part of the large gap ”between swim prices today compared to three years ago.
A director of a Denver area dance studio who did not want her name to be used due to the competitive nature of her business, said she began looking for new uniform suppliers to keep costs down for the families. Some destinations for the two out-of-state competitions typical of a given season have been moved to cities that have more flight options and therefore less expensive.
Some of these teams only make a third away match, this in a major competition, if they receive a "paid" invitation.
At stake is the future of a youth sports industry that generated about $ 20 billion, according to one estimate, before COVID-19 cut spending in 2020. Additionally, inflation is giving some families a chance to revisit an issue that first emerged when COVID-19 canceled pretty much all youth leagues for a year or more.
It is a choice that not everyone wants to make, but which is increasingly imposed on the lower-middle class.
Kennedy said she has long been fortunate to have a supportive family, including grandparents who have pledged to pay some of the costs of Liam's baseball. But some things had to go. A seat on a travel team can fetch up to $ 1,200, and that's before the team and the trip, "and we just don't have that kind of money," Kennedy said.
However, Liam loves baseball and sitting outside wasn't a real choice. "It's the whole parenting situation, 'I'm going to starve to make sure my kids get what they need.