Over the last three decades, club sports have been on the rise. The number of private club teams is at an all-time high because of the intensity and coaching being offered. According to “Why Youth Sports in America Are in Decline” by The Ringer, “In the last five years, high school sports participation has fallen for the first time on record.”
There are many pros and cons to club sports. However, with the numbers in club sports increasing, there seems to be a decrease in the number of participants within high school sports.
There is extreme stress on athletes who participate in club sports. There is a lot of pressure to compete at a high level and stand out on a more competitive stage. I asked some athletes and parents if they felt they needed to play club, or if they just wanted to.
Junior Claire Buletza is a two-sport athlete. Her main sport is volleyball and she wants to continue her career into college. Claire has been playing at Avidity Volleyball Club for the past four years. I asked her how her experience has been with playing club volleyball. She said: “Coming from a really good team in high school is a lot of pressure to carry those skills over to club.”
When you’re coming from a three-time state championship high school team, the expectations are set very high from her club teammates. She states that club volleyball can become very emotionally draining because it requires a lot of time and dedication.
At the beginning of her volleyball career, she loved the sport so much that she wanted to play club. But she then later realized that playing wasn’t just a want anymore; playing became a need. She said, “If I wanted to play in college, I would have to continue with club volleyball”.
Now getting older, there are other activities and things that she would like to participate in but her commitment to the club does not allow her to. I asked her if there were any sports she would like to play but could not because of club volleyball. She said she would have liked to play basketball. She states that her club team “does not allow you to play a winter sport. You are allowed to play a spring sport but your playing time at tournaments gets cut.” This is why a lot of numbers in high school sports are dropping.
Senior Drew Lane plays club baseball and plans to play in college as well. He has enjoyed his time playing club and says: “I still had fun by building bonds with my teammates from other towns and being able to play at various places as well.”
I also asked him if he wanted to play club or if he felt like he needed to. He says, “I never had a desire to play club.” However, he felt that if he wanted to play in college then it was needed.
His commitment to club baseball also made him quit a sport that he grew up playing. He was a three-sport athlete playing football, basketball, and baseball. However, come his junior year, he realized he couldn’t do basketball and club baseball in the same season. He knew that he wanted to pursue baseball, so he had to sacrifice basketball in order to do that.
Some families say club sports are worth it, but not all families are able to afford it. This gives a disadvantage to the kids that are unable to afford it and not given the same opportunities.
To cover the costs of club sports, some families may turn to fundraising, donations, and scholarships. But sometimes that is not enough. According to “Playing to play: How much do club sports cost” by USA today High school Sports, A study by TD Ameritrade found that, “Parents whose children participated in ‘highly competitive or elite teams run by a non-school organization’ were spending on average $100 to $500 per month, per child. And at least 20 percent of them dished out $1,000 per month.”
Pete Buletza is the assistant Ipswich girls’ volleyball coach and has a daughter and son playing club sports. I also asked him if he thinks these kids want to play or need to. He answered with, “My guess is that kids play club because they want to, because club is so expensive. It’s not an easy decision for parents.”
When I asked Pete if there is an advantage to playing club he replied, “Clearly, yes, the kids are going to be in the gym longer and will be the ones getting more playing time.” The kids that are putting in more time and effort are going to be the ones playing in the games. But this is unfair to the kids that are unable to afford club sports. He also talks about how the price of the clubs can exclude a whole bunch of kids who wouldn’t otherwise be able to play.
Although club sports can be very time-consuming and expensive, they provide a lot of opportunities for athletes and in hopes to further their athletic careers in college. I believe that the cost of club sports should not be so expensive so every kid has the same opportunity.
