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Online now: 3 members: Lugnuts29, TABLE SETTER 11, marvinknowles80; 109 anonymousDiscussion: Who Cares About the Rules?!
| Posted | Discussion |
| Dec. 23, 2011 southpaw Men's 70 1077 posts | Who Cares About the Rules?! Most of us will play anyway. My concern is the spiraling cost of tourney entry fees. My team is not sponsored, as are most of the senior teams. We try to play once a month--9 to 10 tourneys a year. Right now, the estimated cost of entry fees is over $5000. This is where tourneys are soon going to see less and less teams. |
| Dec. 23, 2011 steve65 Men's 65 177 posts | add to entry fee the cost of going to tourneys--mine averaged about $700 each this year and it explains alot of why small numbers of entrys |
| Dec. 23, 2011 BruceinGa Men's 70 3233 posts | If we didn't have a sponsor that paid entry fees I would have to think long and hard about paying 4-500 dollars for a qualifier. I think it would be just a much fun to play in a one pitch trounament where the fees are much less. |
| Dec. 23, 2011 DoubleL10 Men's 70 907 posts | I'm with you, Bruce. In 2010, we were self-sponsored and it made a big difference which Nationals and local tourneys we attended. This year, we had a sponsor who paid entry fees for most tournaments and we played in a few more. When you pay your own money, the qualfiers have different meaning. When we had a sponsor, we tried to play twice a month just to keep in tournament shape. When we paid our own way, we travelled much less. |
| Dec. 23, 2011 Tater50 Men's 60 336 posts | Steve: I care about the rules, but..........the point is valid about the cost. Would be more pleasant if I knew that the Majority of Tourney players had been polled to make the rules. My guess is that most guys average $300+ dollars a weekend; according to distance traveled!!! Tater50 |
| Dec. 24, 2011 leftyfalcon Men's 65 158 posts | Your close about the money. But since i still work i have know days off money so if the people with the same problem as me would be in the 350 to 400. It is not cheap to play. But i still love it. |
| Dec. 26, 2011 steve65 Men's 65 177 posts | lefty tater you are correct on money figures --amount stated includes my wife accompanying me---at the same time the softball organizations have no control over hotel costs etc-- |
| Dec. 26, 2011 17Black Men's 60 414 posts | Topic of this discussion should probably be changed. I "am" and have been the partial sponsor of a team the past few years, along with another sponsor. This year (2012) I am starting a new team, in a new league and will be the sole sponsor, and we are also going to play in more tournaments than my previous team. League Entry Fees, new pants, couple sets of jerseys, hats and more are going to add up $$$$$$-----throw in ump fees for league games, "maybe" a couple of "team bats" for the guys who can't afford one to share I'm up to OVER about $4k with above costs. Most checks I've been writing for tourneys the past few years are in that $450/$500 range----------so even just (6) tourneys you can say $3K more. As a sponsor on a team that is "ONLY" going to play in a MAX of "about"(6) tourneys, (here in northern ohio we have several months of down time) BUT I'm going to be somewhere "around" $7,000 bucks in sponsorship fees and other expenses when all is said and done, probably more. (My league team is going to be the SAME guys for the most part as the tournament team) My players are going to come up with their own travel expenses to tourneys (motels/fuel/meals) and most are fine with that, and I've been know to spring for a dinner and bar-tab every now and then for the whole team/spouses/girlfriends/mistresses. If we wind up going to Florida/Arizona/Vegas or somewhere else I'll be throwing in more $$$$$ I don't really get anything for sponsoring other than an advertising "tax write off" but it's still money out of pocket. I'm not going to get an extra business from this advertising in my line of work. But I'll do it for the love of the game and the chance for some fun, even though some guy will at some point complain because he is batting 8th instead of 7th and make a federal case out of it :) I'm not sure softball expenses are on par with inflation. I remember getting teams together in the 80's with cheaper uniforms, cheaper league entry fees and still remember when tournaments were under $100 bucks. But the guy who thought he should be batting 7th instead of 8th still moaned all season :):):) |
| Dec. 26, 2011 Omar Khayyam 1357 posts | 17Black, thanks for your commitment as a sponsor. I wish there were more like you. I play on a partially-sponsored team where the sponsor provides uniforms and a food & booze spread after most tournament days. I'm happy with that. As a primarily self-sponsored team, we enter about 16-18 tournaments a year, most of them within comfortable driving distance (500 miles or less), and most are weekend tournaments with a few mid-week or Friday start three-day events. As an older team, we have a larger roster than many tournament teams, but even so our annual per-player fee is $300 a year. I make most of the tournaments, so it costs me about $25 a weekend—quite a bargain for all those hours of fun! Of course, my travel costs for fuel have gone up in recent years, but the lodging and dining costs have not because of the poor economy. I find it easy to afford even as a retiree, and sharing rides and rooms could be even more inexpensive. Of course, in northern California tournament fees are $300 and if we played in too many of the $500+ tournaments, we'd have to raise our assessment cost, and we might lose a couple of players who just can't afford the jump in prices. I'm not sure where the expenses have gone up to require the increased tournament costs. Umps? Slightly. Balls? Nope. Location rental fees? Likely with municipalities feeling the hurt. Director/association costs? Nah....well, maybe. |
| Dec. 27, 2011 17Black Men's 60 414 posts | Thanks Omar: You know as I was reading some of the above posts, and knowing through business that the economy has been in shambles for a while, it's interesting to me to see some the expenses guy shell out. $300 fee per guy is an interesting concept, but that to me, winds up being "pay to play" and if I was paying a fee and sitting on the bench more than another guy, I probably would have major reservations with it. I coach a high school girls fast-pitch team---my school has been fortunate we have not gone to "pay to play" yet-----but I hear horror stories from other coaches who have parents of bench warmers that are up in arms because their kids don't play as much as the starters----and paid their fees too---which takes some of the fun out of coaching dealing with that kind of stuff. Then again I see teams that have various raffles/golf outings and other fund raisers, and a handful of guys do all the work and sell all the tickets while the others reap the benefits---------so I guess it's all relative??? |
| Dec. 27, 2011 5ToolsinOhio Men's 50 160 posts | Tyja sports has pants for 10bucks a pair they might have your colors. |
| Dec. 27, 2011 garyheifner 649 posts | I think all the above make very good points. Most of my team is retired and $$$ are important. We will have our planning meeting in 4 weeks to vote on what tournanments we will attend. Each guy will pay a $350 fee for the tournament kitty. We have 15 guys and rarely do all 15 make it. We usually all bat in the qualifers and reduce the # in the ring tournaments sometimes. Everyone knows up front that in a 5 game or more tournament a few will sit each game. We are all good with that and is why most of us are entering the 11th season together. I know fees are going up but I don't see people lining up to start a new national association with $200 or $300 entry fees. My wife enjoys going to the tournies and we budget accordingly. Less eating out and cutting more store coupons etc. We view the travel and costs as a dozen mini vacations and a chance to see the USA. |
| Dec. 28, 2011 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | i'm with ya all,it is getting real expensive to travel now a days.i have found priceline.com to be my friend.you can bid on rooms and get them way cheaper than normal.so it is a 1 star,but i'm just sleeping and showering,and most of the time the place i get is closer to a 2.5-3 star.80% of the time i get an extendedstay america hotel to stay in,and when i do,i pack my food,as they have kitchenettes. we throw in $200 to start our tourney fund going each year,and then we chip in if it runs out. we are self funded and yes there is a prol sometimes with paying and sitting,but it all works out in the end.... |
