BJ Leroy, a regional representative and founding member of the Badger Region Volleyball group that organizes the sport at the club level in the state of Wisconsin, posed a query to the nearly 16,000 members of the “Volleyball Coaches and Trainers” group on Facebook (of which he is an administrator).
Leroy asked the members of the group, which he feels comprises a representative cross-section of American club coaches, how much their players play for a year “considering club fees, camps, equipment, training and travel.”
The results of the survey are below:
| Cost Per Player | # of Responses |
| $20,000 | 0 |
| $17,500 | 0 |
| $12,500 | 2 |
| $9,000 | 11 |
| $7,500 | 5 |
| $6,500 | 2 |
| $5,500 | 10 |
| $4,500 | 52 |
| $3,500 | 6 |
| $2,500 | 57 |
| $1,500 | 59 |
| $1,000 | 2 |
| $500 | 25 |
| Participants | 231 |
| Average | $3,160 |
A few observations about the results:
- The result is fairly consistent with what LeRoy says he expected, and with what past data surveys have produced – between $3,000 and $3,500/year, on average.
- Travel seems to be a primary driver for recent cost inflation in youth sports, as it is in volleyball. The clubs on the higher end are almost exclusively national-level clubs, which means they compete longer into the spring (July instead of April) and have significantly higher travel costs. For example, a team competing at GJNCs could run around 10 nights in a hotel – for one tournament – in addition to the entry fees and travel costs.
- According to a recent survey by Utah State University, that makes the sport cheaper than lacrosse ($7,956), hockey ($7,013), and baseball/softball ($4,044); but more expensive than football ($2,739), soccer ($1,472), and basketball ($1,143).
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