{"id":860900,"date":"2026-08-19T14:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T14:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/860900\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T14:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T14:20:16","slug":"is-your-kid-maybe-a-baseball-prodigy-thatll-cost-thousands-of-dollars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/860900\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Kid Maybe a Baseball Prodigy? That\u2019ll Cost Thousands of Dollars"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story is part of How We Get By, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the\u00a0full series here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Theo Steele, 13, has been playing baseball for nearly half of his life. Like a lot of kids, he began with an Oakland<\/a> team at the Little League level, which is meant to be recreational. Fun over foul balls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But a year ago, he wanted to step up his game after batting two home runs during a home run derby.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s like when I thought I was actually pretty good at baseball,\u201d Theo said.<\/p>\n

Theo\u2019s mom, Jonna Prinzing, enjoyed the low-stakes experience. Little League isn\u2019t a huge time commitment, and the costs can be manageable. But when Theo asked to join a travel baseball team \u2014 the next rung in the aspiring youth athlete ladder \u2014 Prinzing hesitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou pay per tournament, as well as a fee to be part of the team,\u201d she said, as she cheered on her son during a recent Major League Baseball-sponsored skills competition in Oakland. The teams have multiple practices a week and tournaments most weekends. \u201cAll of that was what held us back from joining sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Theodore Steele follows through on his pitch at the pitching event during the Oakland Baseball Foundation MLB Pitch Hit and Run competition at Bushrod Park in Oakland on July 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"A volunteer scores a ball that flew all the way to zone 3 of the outfield during the Oakland Baseball Foundation MLB Pitch Hit and Run competition at Bushrod Park in Oakland on July 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"Balls lay in wait for the next competitor at the pitching station during the Oakland Baseball Foundation MLB Pitch Hit and Run competition at Bushrod Park in Oakland on July 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

A growing number of kids are pursuing competitive sports as young as elementary school. Since the 1980s, competitive club and travel teams have exploded into a $40 billion industry<\/a>, and many parents feel an enormous pressure to pay so that their kids can play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to a 2025 report<\/a> by the Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, since 2010, spending on youth sports has increased more than 55%, and nearly 60% of families are financially strained by their children\u2019s sports \u2014 while 11% reported that they planned to take on debt.<\/p>\n

According to Data for a Difference<\/a>, on average, Bay Area families spend nearly $2,000 annually for one child to play one club sport.<\/p>\n

Prinzing ultimately signed up her son for Future Stars Baseball, which charges<\/a> a $600 team fee for the upcoming fall season. Every tournament players attend costs another $125, and extra intramural games are $35 a piece. Plus, families are expected to buy uniforms, priced at $125 a year, along with gear, such as cleats, gloves and bats.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want to do the best things they can for the kids, so when opportunities come up to play baseball, parents are willing to pay,\u201d said Joe Oh, co-founder of the Oakland Baseball Foundation, a nonprofit that runs baseball travel teams and camps. The organization is part of a growing movement attempting to keep costs lower than similar teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nA changing youth sports landscape\n<\/p>\n

These efforts aim to counterbalance the rise in private equity firms<\/a> that invest in sports complexes and teams \u2014 raising costs for families along the way.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Josh Harris, the co-founder of Apollo Global Management, and David Blitzer, a chairman at Blackstone and owner of multiple professional sports teams, launched a youth athletics holding company called Unrivaled Sports that owns sports camps, leagues and venues. They started with a portfolio of 12 facilities and now have 15.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Orion Mitchell swings for the fences at the hitting station during the Oakland Baseball Foundation MLB Pitch Hit and Run competition on July 23, 2026, at Bushrod Park in Oakland.<\/p>\n

In 2025, they acquired the Twin Creeks Sports Complex<\/a> in Sunnyvale and Big League Dreams in Manteca.<\/p>\n

Oh said tournament fees have increased significantly at Unrivaled Sports-owned properties. The teams\u2019 entry fee for an upcoming two-day Twin Creeks tournament<\/a> is $930 \u2014 plus a $399 gate fee that teams pay upfront to help cover spectator admission. The tournament fee<\/a> for a TPR Baseball event at Mistlin Fields later this month is $855.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the private equity firms realized was, \u2018There\u2019s an opportunity to capitalize on the fields, the uniforms, the equipment, the coaching \u2014 all the opportunities that come along with this,\u2019\u201d Oh said.<\/p>\n

\n\u2018We don\u2019t have thousands to spare\u2019\n<\/p>\n

The percentage of children who participate in organized youth sports is significantly correlated with household income, according to the Aspen Institute\u2019s most recent State of Play survey<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2023, about 37% of kids in households with incomes below the national poverty level participated in organized youth sports<\/a>, compared to about 73% of kids in households whose income was four times the national poverty level. The data found that children from homes earning $100,000 or more are twice as likely to play travel sports than those in homes making under $50,000.<\/p>\n

\"\"Kids in the 7 to 8 age division wait their turn at the pitching station during the Oakland Baseball Foundation MLB Pitch Hit and Run competition at Bushrod Park in Oakland on July 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"Matteo Mendoza returns with a ball as Kenny Lofton III watches on at warmups during the Oakland Baseball Foundation MLB Pitch Hit and Run competition at Bushrod Park in Oakland on July 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"Kids in the 7 to 8 age division listen to Ryland Henke as he lays down the rules of the event during the Oakland Baseball Foundation MLB Pitch Hit and Run competition at Bushrod Park in Oakland on July 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

Homero Espinosa, a board member for the Oakland Baseball Foundation, said that while not joining a club team doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that a kid won\u2019t play their sport at a high level, it does put them at a disadvantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids who have access to the travel ball teams, who are playing a lot more baseball a lot more competitively, obviously are going to have a leg up,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s expensive, it limits access, but that\u2019s how you get to start playing more and more competitively.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are low-cost and low-commitment options. Many elementary and middle schools have various team sports, and seasonal Little League, Pop Warner Football and AYSO soccer remain popular.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s accessible. It\u2019s a good entry point for beginner kids,\u201d Espinosa said. \u201cBut for the kids who want to compete and want to further their opportunities, [that] is where the travel ball teams come into play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emmalene Maile\u2019s son has played in San Lorenzo\u2019s Little League, which costs about $250 a season, for a few years. He loves baseball, but Maile said her family hasn\u2019t considered travel ball yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard it was a lot of money from another parent,\u201d she said. \u201cShe did say that there was a payment plan, but like thousands of dollars. We don\u2019t have thousands of dollars to spare.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said her son has asked about playing travel ball, but he hasn\u2019t pushed for it yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know for sure as he gets older he\u2019s definitely going to want to play,\u201d Maile said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d do our best to save up for it,\u201d she said. \u201cHopefully we would be able to afford it. It is a big expense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nExpanding access\n<\/p>\n

Oh said travel ball is marketed to parents as essential if they want their kid to play at collegiate level. He said that\u2019s not always the case, but \u201cwhat was evident to us is that we are diminishing the number of kids who have the opportunity to at least even try.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe point of this organization is to create as much opportunity as possible, and then let the kids decide if they want to play,\u201d Oh said. \u201cLet us create an infrastructure where anyone who wants to play and shows the willingness to want to learn [can] be trained under high-level coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the case of Oakland Baseball Foundation, its estimated costs are about $5,000 a year, compared with between $10,000 and $15,000 for some teams. A quarter of Foundation players receive scholarships, and they put profits into restoring city fields, like the one at Bushrod Park, where they hosted the recent MLB event.<\/p>\n

\"\"Matthias Hicks prepares his throw at the pitching station during the Oakland Baseball Foundation MLB Pitch Hit and Run competition at Bushrod Park in Oakland on July 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

Other organizations, like the Volo Kids Foundation, aim to fill similar gaps outside of the competitive arena.<\/p>\n

Becca Beltramo has registered her foster daughter for the organization\u2019s free six-week sports programs consistently over the last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a single parent, so when looking online at the different leagues or the different opportunities for her, it\u2019s a big cost for us and our family,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m on a single income, and it\u2019s hard to make all those things happen for her, but I don\u2019t want to limit her possibilities because of our finances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beltramo\u2019s foster daughter has played Volo soccer over the last year. The once-a-week programming includes a warmup, focused skills work and a scrimmage or a structured activity. They also provide T-shirts and the equipment required for the specific sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cVolo is a great middle ground for us,\u201d Beltramo said. She said for now, club sports \u201ccome with a lot of hidden costs, I\u2019ve found out, that I\u2019m not sure that our family is ready to take on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story is part of How We Get By, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":860901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-860900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}