I just bought my 14 year old a 300 dollar swim suit!

[kellia]

OMG! DD did swim through MS and HS, never had a suit over $70. I never even heard of those until here! My sons are now on their second year and I was happy for their $25 jammers!

 

[BLAZEY]

The thing is these times are used for qualifying at regional, provincial (Canadadian here) and national level. All those swimmers are in the racing suits. These meets don't operate in a vacuum so the swimmers do have to wear what the higher level swimmers are wearing. My dd is in her first pricey suit this year. Swimming for us runs about the equivalent of a private school education. About ten to twelve thousand a year. Parents can elect to place their swimmers in lower level competition at lower costs. We choose not to because dd competes well at this high level and we think we have a responsibility to see how far she can go. We make it work.

DD is only 7, (8 in March) and will be entering her 2nd season of Summer Swimming this year. This is the lower level competitive swimming. We know that she will never be a TOP level swimmer but she enjoys it, has fun with her swim friends, and fun traveling to meets on weekends in the summer. Both my sister and I swam with this same swim team as kids, and love that the main focus of summer swimming is the TEAM spirit, stroke development and personal best times. the swim supply store set up stall to buy gear and DD7 has seen the tech suits and wants one. NOPE. You get the clearance $25 Speedo for practice so you can save your $70 black Speedo with the club logo for races.

 

[chartle]

Ouch! I think I finally found an activity that is as draining on the budget as dance team was when I was in school!

I guess you never heard of ice hockey. 10 years ago it was around 6k a year.

 

[georgina]

Yep, I feel your pain, but my DD played lacrosse and field hockey. Sticks, goggles, cleats for grass & turf, it all adds up. And then there are the summer travel teams and camps. Other DD played ultimate frisbee, which wasn't too bad on the wallet and not nearly so competitive.

 

[holden]

I would love to only pay $300/400 for a swimsuit. I have a figure skater and an equestrian in my house...

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I don't think such suits have made into our little league, but even if they have, my DD's aren't fast enough to warrant them. We typically get 2 full seasons out of the $70 suits. Whew!

 

[a742246]

These costs are ridiculous!

 

[robinb]

DD is only 7, (8 in March) and will be entering her 2nd season of Summer Swimming this year. This is the lower level competitive swimming. We know that she will never be a TOP level swimmer but she enjoys it, has fun with her swim friends, and fun traveling to meets on weekends in the summer.

Many of the kids who are superstars when they are 7 & 8 are no longer fast when they are older. Conversely, many kids are just so-so when they are 7 & 8 and become faster once they grow into their more adult bodies. My DD was nearly last (out of 92 girls) in the 100 backstroke at the big state championship meet when she was 10 (the first year she qualified). Six 1/2 years later she was top 10. you just never know.

 

[star72232]

Be careful what you wish for. I thought the same thing when our kids were in Tae Kwon Do. They stopped at ages 10 & 13.
Financially, it was killing us, especially x2 kids, but it was good for them. One kid, now 20, is very into gaming so it got him off his rear and kept him fit. After he got his black belt he didn't want to do it anymore and has gotten a tad rounder since. We're not very athletic people or into even watching sports so this was so good for him.

Without having this to keep ds16 (then 12,) occupied a few nights per week, he entered HS and started hanging out with the wrong crowd. It's been a long road since then and he admits he was foolish back then, but still I'd love to go back to taking them to karate and even paying through the nose for it. Having SOMETHING to do keeps them out of trouble. Kids are often insecure at that age and will do ridiculous things to fit in & look cool.

I have 3 in TKD, and I'm actually happy that it's pretty inexpensive. Our school offers discounts for multiple children and paying in advance, so a year for 3 kids is about $1600. Equipment is used for years and handed down to a younger sibling. A full set of gear is about $200 (leg and arm guards, hogu, helmet) - we have bought 3 sets at this point, but that's over the course of 6 years. For something they do 3+ days a week, it seems reasonable to me. DD just got her black belt, ODS will get his in June. MDS is a yellow belt.

I can only imagine the cost of dance, gymnastics or hockey. Plus, those involve a lot more travel than TKD does for us.

 

[kymom99]

Many of the kids who are superstars when they are 7 & 8 are no longer fast when they are older. Conversely, many kids are just so-so when they are 7 & 8 and become faster once they grow into their more adult bodies. My DD was nearly last (out of 92 girls) in the 100 backstroke at the big state championship meet when she was 10 (the first year she qualified). Six 1/2 years later she was top 10. you just never know.

I can attest to that. My son was near the back in all his races from 3rd to 7th grades but he stuck with it. Now he is a varsity runner competing on the state level.

 

[mya1k9]

I have a swimmer and yes the costs are astromical, however my other DD used to be a gymnast, you talk about expensive and time consuming!!! she practiced 3 to 4 nights a week for 3 to 4 hours, and she was only 9 at the time. You have never seen a happier person then me when she decided to try volleyball instead!!!

 

[hippiechicken]

My daughter was a ballet dancer. Pointe shoes cost about $100 a week and tutus and costumes are crazy expensive. Not to mention the training, summer programs, shows, etc... She ended up with a dance scholarship for college and has been well employed because of her experiences. I also believe the training helped her emotionally and stay out of trouble.
So, in the end, this extracurricular activity was definitely worth the price for us!!

 

[J'aime Paris]

I guess you never heard of ice hockey. 10 years ago it was around 6k a year.

Our neighbor boy is on the Junior Admirals club team in the Milwaukee area. His mom said that their expenses are around $15K per year. The fees, extra ice time, camps, gear and travel expenses, etc..
Yikes!

 

[kellia]

I guess you never heard of ice hockey. 10 years ago it was around 6k a year.

Oh, we're in Michigan, it's big here! One of my sons wanted to try, and I can't say I encouraged it! At the time, I was getting laid off, so had to say no and he didn't ask next year. He's happy doing his cross country, track, and swim, though.

 

[mjkacmom]

My daughter was a ballet dancer. Pointe shoes cost about $100 a week and tutus and costumes are crazy expensive. Not to mention the training, summer programs, shows, etc... She ended up with a dance scholarship for college and has been well employed because of her experiences. I also believe the training helped her emotionally and stay out of trouble.
So, in the end, this extracurricular activity was definitely worth the price for us!!

That's what I tell myself, $10,000 a year, not including travel costs (overseas and national), but my girls haven't even had any teen drama yet. Not to mention the stories dd15 tells me about friends drinking and ending up getting their stomachs pumped. No time for that!

 

[eeyoreandtink]

My daughter was a ballet dancer. Pointe shoes cost about $100 a week and tutus and costumes are crazy expensive. Not to mention the training, summer programs, shows, etc... She ended up with a dance scholarship for college and has been well employed because of her experiences. I also believe the training helped her emotionally and stay out of trouble.
So, in the end, this extracurricular activity was definitely worth the price for us!!

My DD is a dancer and competitive cheerleader. I feel your pain. Ballet isn't her primary focus, so we don't go through a pair of shoes a week, but between all genres her shoe bill at the beginning of the year is about $400, plus at least 2 more pair of pointe shoes, and a few soft shoes that get replaces. We spend about $800 a year on shoes alone.

 

[DisneyElite4]

OMG...I had no idea activities had gotten so expensive since I was a kid. What activity is affordable now? That's the one I want to guide my three into!

 

[mjkacmom]

OMG...I had no idea activities had gotten so expensive since I was a kid. What activity is affordable now? That's the one I want to guide my three into!

Seriously, cross country/track. Minimal equipment, can practice anywhere, from our experience and from those of others, nicest kids, coaches, objective, low risk of injury, lifetime sport.

 

[havaneselover]

OMG...I had no idea activities had gotten so expensive since I was a kid. What activity is affordable now? That's the one I want to guide my three into!

Rec sports are generally not terribly expensive. Once there are professional coaches involved it can get pricey.

 

[robinb]

Seriously, cross country/track. Minimal equipment, can practice anywhere, from our experience and from those of others, nicest kids, coaches, objective, low risk of injury, lifetime sport.

My DD tore her ACL in track. The silver lining is that she now wants to be a Physical Therapist because of all the PT she went through!