Youth Sports Costs: Are Travel Teams Worth It?

Travel and club teams usually show up around the same time as the question: is this worth it? The answer depends on your child's age, what they want, and what the full season actually costs once the tournaments and hotel nights are added in.

Here is what national data says about spending, what pediatric experts say about specializing early, and a practical way to decide.

How much do youth sports cost per year?

The average US sports family spent $1,016 on one child's primary sport in 2024, and nearly $1,500 once that child's other sports were included.

Those figures come from the Aspen Institute's National Youth Sports Parent Survey, run with Utah State University and Louisiana Tech University. It surveyed 1,848 parents of kids ages 6 to 18 in late 2024. Spending on the primary sport broke down like this:

Cost	Average per child, primary sport
Travel and lodging	$278
Team registrations	$197
Lessons and instruction	$183
Equipment and uniforms	$165
Camps or athletic schools	$148
Other	$43
Total	$1,016

Source: Aspen Institute full survey results, 2025. Figures rounded.

Averages hide a huge spread. Parents in the survey reported spending anywhere from nothing to $24,600 on one child's primary sport. Even for kids ages 6 to 10, families spent more than $1,000 on one child's sports teams.

Why are youth sports getting so expensive?

Family spending on a child's primary sport rose 46% from 2019 to 2024, about twice the rate of inflation, according to the Aspen Institute.

The survey pointed to three drivers: higher team registration fees, travel and lodging for games outside the local area, and more spending on private lessons and camps. The increase varied by sport. Over those five years, average spending rose 105% for basketball, 69% for soccer and 68% for baseball. Baseball was the most expensive of the three.

Where you live matters too. Rural families spent about $660 on their child's primary sport, compared with roughly $1,040 for urban families and $1,110 for suburban families. The researchers linked the gap to fewer travel sports options in rural areas.

How much do travel and club teams cost?

National surveys don't publish a single average for travel teams, but travel is where costs climb fastest. In the Aspen survey, travel and lodging was the largest spending category, and individual families reported up to $22,050 in travel costs for one child's primary sport.

The registration fee is only the start. When a club quotes you a price, ask whether it covers:

• Tournament entry fees
• Uniforms, warm-ups and required gear
• Hotel nights and gas for away tournaments
• Private lessons or extra training the coach expects
• Off-season camps or showcases

Then multiply the trips by your family's real costs. For more on budgeting across all activities, see how much kids' activities cost.

How many kids actually play on travel teams?

Fewer than you might think. Only 17.3% of sports parents in the Aspen survey said their child regularly played their primary sport on a travel, elite or club team.

The most common settings were community-based teams (42.6%), free play (41.3%) and school teams (40.4%). Children from households earning more than $100,000 played in travel or club settings more often than others.

Overall, 58% of US children ages 6 to 17 played organized sports in 2024, according to federal survey data reported by Project Play. The gap between the lowest- and highest-income children reached 38.5 percentage points.

What does the AAP say about early sports specialization?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends delaying specialization in a single sport until late adolescence, around age 15 or 16, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Sampling several sports first gives kids a better chance of lifelong sports involvement and fitness.

Johns Hopkins notes that overuse injury risk goes up for athletes who play more than 16 hours a week, or more hours a week than their age in years, and for those who play the same sport year-round without a break. If your child does focus on one sport, it points to guidelines from the National Athletic Trainers' Association:

• One organized sport per season, not two at the same time.
• No more than eight months a year in the main sport.
• No more hours per week than your child's age in years.
• At least two days off a week from training and competition.
• A rest period at the end of each season.

The AAP's clinical report on overuse injuries and burnout adds that it has become more common for young athletes to play on multiple teams at once and train year-round, and names overscheduling as a risk factor for burnout. It recommends measuring success by participation and effort, not results.

There are exceptions. Early specialization is common in sports where athletes peak young, like gymnastics, figure skating and swimming.

Will a travel team help my child get a college scholarship?

Don't count on it, and don't build the budget around one. Johns Hopkins notes that early specialization is not necessarily linked to scholarships or elite status.

Parents tend to be more optimistic than kids. In the Aspen parent survey, 22.2% of sports parents said their child had the ability to play Division I college sports. But in Project Play's national youth survey, only 12% of current players named earning a college scholarship or roster spot as a favorite thing about playing. Having fun (48%) and playing with friends (47%) topped the list.

How do I decide if travel sports is worth it?

Travel sports is worth it when your child wants it, the full cost fits your budget, and the team's schedule leaves room for rest and other activities. Work through these questions:

1. Whose goal is it? Johns Hopkins suggests asking whether your child wants to specialize out of passion or to please others. More than half of parents in the Aspen survey said they felt some pressure from others to have their child specialize.
2. How old is your child? For younger kids, the advice to keep sampling sports points toward a community team plus a second sport rather than one year-round club.
3. What's the real total? Get the club's full-season cost in writing, then add your own travel.
4. What does the schedule allow? Ask how many months a year the team practices and whether kids get days off each week and a break after the season.
5. Will the coach support other sports? In the Aspen survey, 52.4% of parents said their child's club coaches encouraged playing multiple sports. Ask where this coach stands.
6. What happens if your child wants to quit? Ask about refunds and whether fees are owed for the full season.

If the answer is "not yet," that's a normal choice. Most kids still play on community and school teams. For help balancing sports with everything else, see how many extracurricular activities is too many.

How do I find rec and community sports near me?

Start with your parks and recreation department, the YMCA and your child's school. Families search camps, classes and enrichment programs on Kaleto, including sports, and providers list their programs there. Find activities near you.