Team Fees

softballfan27

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i have no idea what people pay for team fees and what they get.
we are on the same team as last year. fees are a little higher than last year plus we have to do fundraising on top of this. (i hate fundraising). We play petty much in local tournaments which i know are not very pricey (we are not a college showcase team). I have priced out the cost of these and took in consideration of Uniforms and bat bags, helmets (for new team members), Winter Practice (facility cost), insurance fees etc. The cost of this is not nearly what we are charged in team fees. Plus we have to do fundraising on top of this which means extra money for the team.. Question: do I approach the coach why we are even doing a fund raiser because we have enough money already. I am afraid if I do then my Kid will get short end of the stick during the summer.
 

daboss

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Save yourself the embarrassment. Clubs are not out to screw you. Travel ball becomes a family experience and you cooperation and commitment is essential to the experience. This is NOT Rec. ball. If you don't have the time or the funds to participate, simply cut your losses now and go about your life without.

This may seem cruel but those of us that have been a part of women's fastpitch from as far back as the '80's and had experience in the sport with men's teams before that, I can attest to you very few get rich from this sport. Most are simply doing what others have done for years. They volunteer to offer something that without their involvement your daughter and your family would never get to experience. They have been there done that and now they are offering to lead you into our world captivated by the overall good and life lessons that can be learned from this journey. Until you give it a fair chance, sit back, ride the wave, do your share, and give things a chance to transpire. After it is over you can past judgement whether it was worth it.
 

VE_05

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Just ask the coach for a prive break down. I send out an excel spread sheet with our teams fees and a break down of every dime and what it goes to. Even who has or has not paid.

I'm sure the coach won't care.
 

Freeze Mizer

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I don’t think that it is unreasonable to ask the coach for a budget to see the plan for expenditures for the season. It seems that teams are quick to jump right into fundraising without knowing what the costs per player are.
I also would ask for an updated team budget throughout the year. If the coach can not or will not provide this, I would offer to help. If the coach declines, I would be cautious going forward. Transparency is very important when dealing with other folks’ money.
 

BigZ

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Each team should have a team treasurer separate from the head coach so transparency is easy. We report our fees collected and all charges at least 2 times a year without being asked. It's important for the parents to know where their money is going to avoid headaches and potential confrontations later (another reason the head coach should not be the money person). That's especially true if that player will not be on the team next year. For some reason those parents always think they were over charged or didn't get their monies worth.
 

snoman76

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a couple questions..
what are your fees?
are you part of an organization or a stand alone team?
Based on what you said about not being a "showcase team" i'm assuming you're at least 14u...
What's your fall, winter and summer schedule like?
 

softballfan27

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let me ask you how much your fees are?
do you have fundraising? (is this additional to your fees or does it help reduce your team fees you as a parent pays?)
what do you get for this? or what do you expect to get?
lets say you have approx. 14k for the season what would you as parent expect to get for this.
I don't think we are doing any winter tournaments and only 12u team and part of an organization. and we have played 2 fall tournaments.
I have no idea what are summer schedule is like because we were not given a schedule.
 

9ball

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Are you implying you paid $1275 per girl?
 

softballfan27

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all I am saying is if you have 14k what should you expect to receive for the year.
also is $1275 a girl to high?
 

Hink1927

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Do fundraising monies reduce the entire team player fees or do they reduce an individual player fee based on what they sold?

For example we sell football squares and make $500. Would you decrease everyone’s player fees equally or base it on who sold how many squares. Someone who sold 10 times as many would have their fee reduced 10 times greater?
 

daytonfp

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Some of this is about what you value. Asking us what you should get for $x is backwards. You should know what you get for the fees and determine if you believe the fee is appropriate for what you get. A lot of this depends on age group, tournament levels, quality of gear purchased, etc. Also, some organizations pay the coaches to coach. I've even heard that some organizations require each team to contribute a minimum amount to the organization. That all has to be factored in there.

On the coaches side.... they should be able to clearly explain to everyone what you get for the fees. They shouldn't leave anything out. I always start the season with a team/parent meeting. I always show them my proposed budget and how I arrived at the fee amount. It has everything in there. Every month I send my parents a monthly budget report that tracks to the proposed budget so they can see every dollar in and every dollar out. I do have a misc. column. I track all misc. expenses and itemize those out in my final budget report. Transparency is critical. It builds trust with parents. If a coach or organization is unwilling to provide this level of transparency, I would look elsewhere.

Also remember...some people are good at budgeting and others re not. Some people want to "make sure I have enough money" so their fee is kinda pulled out of thin air based on prior experience. That's an OK approach (although I think they need to learn better budgeting skills) as long as they are transparent and have a policy that any extra funds go back to the parents in a fair way at the end. Otherwise you have every right to ask "Where does the money go?"
 

LineDrive

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How would you like to pay $2500 for a single season and not have one official team practice until the week prior to your first summer tournament? No fall games or winter clinics, not even bat bags included in the cost?? Now that's what I call a racket! Things can always be worse on the other side...
 
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