Club baseball teams are organizations that generally have a dozen or two teams at various age brackets, usually starting at 8u and going all the way up to 18u or 19u. Many club baseball teams focus heavily on tournament play and travel.
The costs for club baseball teams can be much higher than $700. I’ve heard of some teams charging $3,000 to $5,000 for a summer. Especially as kids get older and start traveling more.
To me, the biggest downside to club baseball is that it prices lower income families out of the game. If their kid is talented at a young age they can quickly lose ground on others since they are not getting the same level of training, coaching, and competition.
The other downside is that many club baseball teams are more of a big business that put money ahead of doing what’s best for the kids. Some organizations are looking to turn a profit on the backs of parents that think their little angel is going to be the next major league baseball player.
Finally, the other big downside of club baseball can be the number of games played during the spring, summer, and fall. There are some 10-year-old teams out there playing 100 games a year. That is completely insane.
I believe it’s important to keep your kids active. A lot of kids get in trouble during that time after school and before dinner. Many other kids spend that time sitting in front of a screen for hours at a time. I’d argue that getting your kids involved in activities is more important than ever.