- Parents spend hundreds of dollars a year on one child's primary sport according to a 2022 survey
- That money goes towards athletic fees, new equipment, sports drinks and more
- Video shows a parent, who's a local soccer coach, telling us how much he spent on his three athletes
Travis Baker was around six-years old when his mom first signed him up to play soccer.
"I don't think I even knew what [soccer] was," Baker said. "I just ran with it."
Baker ran a lot as an outside midfielder and winger when he played in his youth and in high school.
Thirty-years after lacing up his first pair of cleats, Baker is now teaching future players as the U11 coach for the Jackson Chapter of Michigan Jaguars FC.
Baker is not only a coach but also a parent of six children, including three athletes who play multiple sports.
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Baker says the family is in full-gear from August to May taking their kids to practices, training or to buy new gear.
"[We're busy] usually Monday's through Sunday. If we're lucky we get Friday's kind of off," Baker said. "It's a balancing act for sure."
His stepson plays football and baseball; a second son plays soccer and baseball; a third son is learning Taekwando.
Baker says there's no off-season for parents especially if they have kids playing multiple sports.
"He's got practice four nights a week. Landon will have baseball or football so that's usually our nights a a week as well and then Lennon has got two practices a week," Baker said.
Parents like Baker spend an average of $883 a year on one child's primary sport according to a 2022 survey from the Aspen Institute.
We asked Baker to estimate how much he spends on his three all-stars.
"$3,000 to $5,000 a year," Baker said after taking a moment to think about his answer.
That money, Baker says goes towards buying sports drinks in bulk or new equipment like bags, bottles, cleats and jerseys.
"The [Jaguars] uniform is $500 to start with for everything, and it's a two-year cycle for it," Baker said.
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Baker says the time and money spent isn't about getting your child to the pros but about building character.
He says it's important for parents to let their kids get involved in youth sports
Let them succeed and even more importantly let them fail and let them figure it out," Baker said. "Try not to live through them. Just enjoy them playing, let them be them and follow their success."
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