The high cost of playing ball

To the editor: We have recently received this year’s flyer announcing registration for Warwick Little League. We were quite surprised to see such an increase in prices. Not only did the price per child increase, there is no longer a sibling discount and the bond has been raised from $50 to $75 per family. We are lucky that we only have two children who play in the little league right now. At $125 per child that’s still high but not compared to friends who have three or four children playing. The Web site gives no explanation for the increase, leaving us to wonder where all the money is going. Before we passed judgment on the league, we decided to do some research on neighboring Little Leagues. We are by far the highest paying per child. For example, Goshen Little League prices this year are: $60 for 5-6 year olds and up to $90 for 13 years and older. They have a cap of $200 per family. We took a ride over to see what the Goshen Little League Fields look like and were pretty impressed. Now we even wonder more why we are paying so much more. Unfortunately, there are some families that are debating whether or not to skip Little League this year all together. Others are trying to figure out how to let one or two children to play while telling another that they can’t afford it this year. On principle alone we are tempted to skip Little League if only our Little Leaguers did not have their hearts set on playing. We do not want to spite our children out of our frustration. We enjoy the Little League season as much as our children do. What irks us even more is the increase in family bond. It seems that the parents are being punished for not volunteering. Last year the girls teams were lacking coaches and parents were pressured into volunteering. Maybe some positive rewards, such as free registration for children whose parents do volunteer their time, would resolve the coaching problem. Many parents do not have the time to volunteer and would rather pay the bond, but that is their choice. Unfortunately the Little League is not allowing many Warwick families the opportunity to chose to play baseball or softball due to extremely high prices. Sincerely, Susan and Tom Reilly Warwick