Club Sports

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irvinehomeowner

irvinehomeowner

Well-known member
So if your kids have any interest in sports, I highly recommend club sports instead of hoping that just playing in school sports is enough.

Even if your kids think they don't like sports... give them a run in some clinic or camp to let them find out for themselves.

Our kids got into sports later... even though we tried different things when they were younger. And now at least one of them wishes we started earlier and actually made them try another sport because by high school, they were behind depending on the sport and school. At least one them we got into club before they started their Freshman year and the club scene was a big shock to us. We had never done club sports and was amazed by how many clubs there were and how many tournaments they get to play in. It was fun and our kid really enjoyed it and it helped them make their school team.

Looking back, I wish my parents put me in club sports but we really couldn't afford it. It wasn't until college that I got into the different sports I wish I played in high school other than the two I played.

And it doesn't just have to be sports... the chess thread inspired me to post this one... any type of activity (academic, musical, etc) your kids show interest would benefit from participation in an out of school program.

It doesn't have to be just Kumon or Chinese immersion. :)

Edit: Typos and clarity... lest the Starman get me.
 
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What are some clinics or camps you'd recommend? In terms of club sports, I'm only personally familiar with crew (rowing) and did a year of football in high school getting knocked onto my ass. I've seen kids do soccer, swim, and volleyball.
 
Hugo Township said:
What are some clinics or camps you'd recommend? In terms of club sports, I'm only personally familiar with crew (rowing) and did a year of football in high school getting knocked onto my ass. I've seen kids do soccer, swim, and volleyball.
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I think there is also lacrosse, football, baseball and basketball.

As for specific camps/clinics, I think each parent has to do their research because different kids will thrive or falter in different programs. My kid has been on 3 different club teams... this last one was the best.
 
Friend said club sports (volleyball) is about $5,000/year with all the traveling and games.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Interestingly enough... girls volleyball is more expensive than boys... and much more competitive/impacted.
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Makes sense because boys have more sports options.

Re: club sports. I would argue club sports is too prevalent at the elementary level. Everyone around here does club - to the detriment of local rec leagues. Not sure when we decided 7 year olds need to play club soccer and travel baseball year round but so many do.
 
I have two kids doing club sports for the first time right now:

1. My son plays ice hockey. He has been doing clinics and playing in rec leagues since age 6, but now at age 10 was ready for more frequent practices and higher level coaching. He plays on one of the more "inexpensive" teams in the area and the cost breakdown is: $4,300 team fee + $600 in team branded gear (not including his standard hockey gear like sticks, pads, etc) + $400 in tournament fees. For that money, we get 2 practices + 1 game per week from August - March and three tournaments on holiday weekends, which are typically 4-5 games each. Our team chose to do all local tournaments this year, so there were no travel fees like airfare + hotel. Many teams choose to travel to places like Vegas, Nashville, Boston, and even Canada for tournaments. As you progress up the hockey ranks, I have heard it can cost $25k/year if you are on a tier-1 hockey team because you are traveling as much as possible to get noticed by NCAA and minor league hockey teams.

2. My daughter plays volleyball. She has been playing for her private school since 4th grade, but has never played club before. Now as a 9th grader she made the sophomore level team at her public high school. Her school has a good volleyball program and went deep into the CIF playoffs this year, so in order to make JV or Varsity, you have to be a club player and she really wants to make varsity eventually. Her club team cost $4,650 which includes 3 practices per week, or 2 practices and 1 weekend tournament from November - June. We have also paid for one out of state tournament so far in Vegas $350 fee + $900 hotel + $250 car rental + free airline miles. We will likely be paying for 1-2 more out of state tournaments.

In both cases, they are really improving at their sports because of the frequency of practices and the higher level of coaching. If they didn't love what they were doing and weren't committed, I absolutely wouldn't do it. I'm not somebody that expects my kids to play pro or even get a college scholarship. It would be smarter to bank the club fees and invest the money to create your own scholarship with the money saved. You should only do it if your kids really enjoy the sport.

Also, I do Kumon math/reading with my son and that is really helping him!
 
Good post LL.

I forgot about ice hockey... I think roller hockey too in Irvine because I see kids playing at that facility off of Barranca whenever I bike by there.

A buddy told me that tryouts at their school (I forget which one), they divided the girls into club and non-club players and if you didn't play club... you couldn't even get on the Frosh team... yikes.

But that's another benefit to having club programs because if your kids don't make their high school teams, they can still play the sport they like in club.
 
bones said:
Makes sense because boys have more sports options.
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True... but I think in general girls volleyball is just way more popular than boys volleyball. The reverse for basketball I think.

bones said:
Re: club sports. I would argue club sports is too prevalent at the elementary level. Everyone around here does club - to the detriment of local rec leagues. Not sure when we decided 7 year olds need to play club soccer and travel baseball year round but so many do.
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Not sure how it works but I think there may be some overlap in club and rec teams.

As for "need"... I think that depends on the parents as most kids don't "need" to study 8 hours a day, play a musical instrument and also do X activity.

Had a discussion about sports the other day with my kid and they said "Wish I played this sport earlier" and I told them... "You did, we put you in 2 camps and a weekly clinic and you didn't like it". Their response "I was a kid, what did I know?".

Can't win. :)
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Good post LL.

I forgot about ice hockey... I think roller hockey too in Irvine because I see kids playing at that facility off of Barranca whenever I bike by there.

A buddy told me that tryouts at their school (I forget which one), they divided the girls into club and non-club players and if you didn't play club... you couldn't even get on the Frosh team... yikes.

But that's another benefit to having club programs because if your kids don't make their high school teams, they can still play the sport they like in club.
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Yes, I think Irvine has the only roller hockey available in OC now. There were some other spots to play a few years ago, but covid sadly put an end to them. I'm assuming roller hockey is only a rec league option right now.

Yes, the girls volleyball tryouts at school did ask girls to segregate between club and non-club, but you could make the frosh or soph teams as a non-club player. The majority of high schools only have one frosh/soph team, which limits the spots. My daughter's school has both a frosh team and a soph team, which allows more non-club players a shot. It's also benefits the coaches because they run club teams as well, so by encouraging these freshman to play club right after their high school season, they get more business.
 
bones said:
Re: club sports. I would argue club sports is too prevalent at the elementary level. Everyone around here does club - to the detriment of local rec leagues. Not sure when we decided 7 year olds need to play club soccer and travel baseball year round but so many do.
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I sometimes wish there was more of an "in between" option. Everything sports related seems to be all or nothing these days. You have to fully commit if you want to keep up with the competition to make the higher levels (even the high school teams as IHO pointed out).

That has been the nice thing about my kids' schools having the option to try sports as young as 4th grade without having to make a large commitment. The kids can try a sport for 6-8 weeks and see if they like it. The cost is minimal and I don't have to do any driving! :)
 
nosuchreality said:
Have the opposite problem. there's no do X for fun, it's all competitive club or nothing.
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There kind of is. Some programs have weekly clinics that's just drills and play.

Many clubs have different levels for each age group. Your "casual" team will be in tournaments with good teams but by the end of it your team will be playing similar skilled teams.

My kid isn't the best player in the world so they were always on the B or C team but it was still fun for all the kids on the team... even when they went winless some days.

There's some good lessons in playing for fun not just record.

But I agree... at one point in time I was looking into trying to start a "casual" sport program for kids who never played before or just want to have fun learning/playing the sport.

Maybe you can start a Recreational club league/program/system.
 
Liar Loan said:
I have two kids doing club sports for the first time right now:

1. My son plays ice hockey. He has been doing clinics and playing in rec leagues since age 6, but now at age 10 was ready for more frequent practices and higher level coaching. He plays on one of the more "inexpensive" teams in the area and the cost breakdown is: $4,300 team fee + $600 in team branded gear (not including his standard hockey gear like sticks, pads, etc) + $400 in tournament fees. For that money, we get 2 practices + 1 game per week from August - March and three tournaments on holiday weekends, which are typically 4-5 games each. Our team chose to do all local tournaments this year, so there were no travel fees like airfare + hotel. Many teams choose to travel to places like Vegas, Nashville, Boston, and even Canada for tournaments. As you progress up the hockey ranks, I have heard it can cost $25k/year if you are on a tier-1 hockey team because you are traveling as much as possible to get noticed by NCAA and minor league hockey teams.

2. My daughter plays volleyball. She has been playing for her private school since 4th grade, but has never played club before. Now as a 9th grader she made the sophomore level team at her public high school. Her school has a good volleyball program and went deep into the CIF playoffs this year, so in order to make JV or Varsity, you have to be a club player and she really wants to make varsity eventually. Her club team cost $4,650 which includes 3 practices per week, or 2 practices and 1 weekend tournament from November - June. We have also paid for one out of state tournament so far in Vegas $350 fee + $900 hotel + $250 car rental + free airline miles. We will likely be paying for 1-2 more out of state tournaments.

In both cases, they are really improving at their sports because of the frequency of practices and the higher level of coaching. If they didn't love what they were doing and weren't committed, I absolutely wouldn't do it. I'm not somebody that expects my kids to play pro or even get a college scholarship. It would be smarter to bank the club fees and invest the money to create your own scholarship with the money saved. You should only do it if your kids really enjoy the sport.

Also, I do Kumon math/reading with my son and that is really helping him!
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The travel really adds up. My kid isn't in ice hockey but plays a club sport. It costs around $6-7k a year all-in with minimal travel. He's a multi-sport athlete and it's been challenging to juggle Club Sport A with rec sport B/C/D.
 
bones said:
The travel really adds up. My kid isn't in ice hockey but plays a club sport. It costs around $6-7k a year all-in with minimal travel. He's a multi-sport athlete and it's been challenging to juggle Club Sport A with rec sport B/C/D.
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I tend to think of the team fee as an hourly cost. Volleyball comes out to about $25/hr for hours spent on court either practicing or playing, and hockey comes out to $35/hr for ice time which is fair since reserving an ice rink costs more than other sports have to pay for gym or field rental.
 
Hugo Township said:
I don't know how you guys have time to take your kids to all of these practices.
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Fortunately, I only got one kid. He was in swim club only. It was at the high school pool. My dad took him to practice and I picked him up after work. He quit the club when he started high school to join the high school team. Unfortunately, COVID hit during his sophomore year. He wasn't good enough to join the varsity team in his senior year, so he only took the swim class during fall semester and then quit swimming after that.

His younger cousin was really good. He won most of his races at the meets. He even beat out some older kids in regional meets. Since the coaches at the club were also swimming and water polo coaches at the high school, they reserved a varsity spot for him as soon as he started high school two years after my son.
 
There is one key theme here: sports are really important for social and physical development and colleges place a high value on a 4 yr athlete for admission tiebreakers. Travel baseball is the biggest grind of a club sport with a bunch of very entitled kids but without playing at that level the kid stands zero chance of making the HS team as baseball Is the hardest team to make. Football
Is usually the easiest to make especially in a heavily Asian district. Track as well.
 
Liar Loan said:
I tend to think of the team fee as an hourly cost. Volleyball comes out to about $25/hr for hours spent on court either practicing or playing, and hockey comes out to $35/hr for ice time which is fair since reserving an ice rink costs more than other sports have to pay for gym or field rental.
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I think this is right. Most club sports when you break it down this way are "reasonable". The issue becomes how many hours is too many hours. How many tourneys is too many tourneys. How much travel is too much travel. Add in some private coaching, maybe some (outside the team) conditioning, equipment fees, etc... But like you mentioned earlier, if the kid really loves it, then it's worth it. Otherwise, better off investing that $$ into whatever stock tips TI is giving these days :)
 
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