Quote Originally Posted by sapdad View Post
I'll jump in here.Your point about regos overall is fair but it doesnt cost $1000 to have a go playing football.You can do it cheaper any manner of ways.Its been discussed before but for 30 odd weeks of 3 sessions (2 x training and 1 x game) it works out to be cheaper than most other sports out there. Add in these kids play and train with higher level facilities and coaches and add in any gear and its not as expensive as it seems.Plus, many parents can easily put a value on their kids dedicating themselves to something and the life lessons that come along with it.My son is in his 4th year of SAP/JDL and needs to decide if he wants to chase an NPL spot next year.If he doesnt then I wont consider one cent or one second of the last 4 years as a waste.You can just enjoy the journey rather than worry about the ending.
Sort of missing the point, i agree when you go down to an hourly rate the NPL/JDL kids are are doing well in comparison to maybe dancing and the like, but AFL, Cricket , League, Union, basketball are much cheaper options and particularly AFL are getting more and more kids for this reason. And i'm not saying its a waste of time and money if you do pay for it for a period of time and they give up, any investement that see your kid developing and enjoying life is a good one. Any team sport will help all kids in one way or another. What if you had 4 kids in the JDL system would it change your mind? Anyone paying over max $700 is purely paying money to the club that is spent on everything else other than your child's development.

If your paying $1000 there is at least $300 that is going to paying for Senior Wages. JDL kids 75, Youth and 18's another 75. So thats roughly 150 kids at $300 = $45k which is conservative because I know some clubs are charging well over $1500 rego in those cases the take would be in excess of $100k ravaged from parents that makes no difference to their kids development. Charge the same money and put that back into facilities/training that will help these kids be the best they can be and many will stay loyal and not ask for money to play 1st grade for them. Putting money into 1st graders pockets is killing the game, the senior players will still play.