6 Tips for Saving Money While Support Your Child's Sports Interest
Every parent knows that watching their children excel at a sport is a proud moment. However, it can be an expensive ride to get there. If you're looking for a way to save money and support your child's sports interests, consider these simple tips, presented by UCOLOURS.
- Buy Their Gear During Off-Season
Shopping off-season is a great way to save money. If you shop for summer clothes during the winter, you'll find discounts and closeout sales. The same concept is true for sports gear. If you buy soccer jerseys or basketball cleats at the end of the season, you'll have quality gear for a fraction of the price by the time the next season comes around. However, if your child plays sports at school, check with the coach to ensure you're buying the right items.
- Teach Them To Commit to One Sport
InnerDrive notes that many kids play multiple sports. However, most are more interested in one over the rest. Talk to your child about which sport they prefer and highlight the benefits. For example, if you drop baseball and focus on basketball, you can spend baseball season practicing your basketball skills. This is a common practice for families with several children who are into sports.
- Create an Outdoor Space for Practice
Parents sometimes spend a great deal of money renting practice fields and sending their children to camp to give them the opportunity to improve. You can create that opportunity in your backyard. Create space by hiring a landscaping company to design a practice field. You can have a contractor oversee the project to make sure everything is up to code. Before you meet with anyone, be sure to read company reviews online and look for discounts.
- Purchase Used Equipment
Hot Shot Sports Equipment shows that buying used sports equipment has many benefits, including the variety of available products still in excellent quality and the practice of being environmentally friendly. Buying new products is pointless. They only appear new for a single game before they are covered in dirt. You can buy used items at a discount price, and they often look new.
- Volunteer To Be a Coach
Part of being a parent to a child interested in sports is teaching them about the importance of healthy competition. The best way to show your support and help them learn these lessons is to volunteer to coach. Teach them and their teammates about the importance of teamwork and how winning isn't everything. Learning to lose like a good sport is just as important as training to win. Additionally, you get to spend quality time with your child while they do something they love.
- Avoid Travel Teams
Travel teams can be a great opportunity for a child in sports. However, they are often very expensive. These teams recruit elite players from across the country and travel long distances, often to other regions, for competitions. Parents have to pay for the uniforms, equipment, and travel. These teams also take up a significant amount of after-school and weekend time, and they often require expensive off-season camp costs.
Over time, you'll start to find other ways to save money on your child's hobbies and extracurriculars. Part of being a parent is learning to make things work. Before you know it, their interests will change, and you'll be on to a new challenge.
Charlene Roth is an author and founder of Safetykid.info. Follow the link for more information on the forthcoming book The A-Z Guide for Worried Parents.