- Volunteer – Check with your child’s team or organization for volunteer opportunities. Some organizations offer discounted registration rates for volunteer hours including – coaching, working the concession stand, refereeing, and helping with registration.
- Buy used – As we all know kids grow fast and many times they outgrow their gear after barely using it. Watch Facebook MarketPlace, Goodwill, local consignment shops, and talk to others on your team for gear that still has alot of life left at a lower cost price.
- Pack snacks – The concession stand can be a budget killer. Instead pack healthy and filling snacks for both your player, their siblings, and yourself. Find a list of my favorite snacks here.
- Get multipurpose gear – If your child plays more than one sport is there gear that will work for both? Basketball shoes and volleyball shoes should be interchangeable and are more then likely played on the same court. Use one large sports bag and have your child switch out the necessary gear for each season.
- Carpool – This is both a great way to meet other parents from the team and save both gas money and wear and tear on your car.
- Use your time wisely – Instead of scrolling the internet while you wait for practice to end, use that time intentionally. Go for a walk, read a new book, plan out your meals for the week, order grocery pickup, pay bills.
- Watch for discounted sales – If you know your child will be playing the same sport next season, grab necessary items at the end of the season. Stores usually discount those items to I make way for the next sport. This includes things like goalie gloves, knee pads, spikes, etc.
- Share equipment – Do you have a friend on the team you could share with? For example, if you play softball could you share a bat with someone else since only one person can bat at a time?
- Look for low cost or free practice space – Watch your Rec Dept.’s website for free classes or trial periods. Our local recreation department runs open gyms in the winter where for a few dollars you can use the space and have gear available including basketball hoops, volleyball nets, wrestling mats, etc. Depending upon the age of your child local highschool teams may run low cost clinics for younger kids as a fundraiser.
- Get generic brands – Does a shirt that says Under Armour or Nike work better than a plain tshirt? Both are going to get sweaty if you are putting in the work. The only thing I make an exception for with this is shoes and protective gear. I do believe that in the long run it will cost less to buy a good pair or shoes than fix the physical ailments that can come from using inappropriate gear.
- Watch travel costs – As your child moves higher and higher up in the sports world there will be more and more travel. With travel comes more and more expenses including – gas, hotel, eating out, etc. There have been tournaments two hours away from our house that we didn’t book a hotel for and drove back and forth each day because it was more cost efficient. The hotel room alone was $200 more than we spent on gas.
- Have a bag of necessities packed and ready to go – If you are running short on time to make snacks, gather activities, or feel prepared you are more likely to spend extra money at the concession stand or allow more electronic time to a sibling than you had originally planned, this I know from personal experience. Here is a link to my favorite bag because it holds a lot and is completely washable.
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