Each sport has a registration fee. Some sports are less than others. The reason being, some sports cost more to get teams organized and playing games.
Flag football, and volleyball fees are less because we don't have to purchase new equipment every year. In flag football, when needed, we buy: footballs, cones, belts, kicking tees, and jerseys. For volleyball we are fortunate that we can use the volleyballs and nets from the high school.
Basketball is one of the most expensive sports to organize. We purchase smaller sized basketballs that are used for the 1st & 2nd grade clinic. We also use smaller, adjustable hoops w/backboards that hang over the regulation hoops. The 3rd-6th grade teams play in tournaments that have entry fees. This gives each team the opportunity to get their kids lots of playing experience and exposure to the sport. We usually have to "borrow" money from another sport to cover the cost of all the tournament entry fees.
T-ball/Baseball/Softball is the other high cost sport for the committee. Each year new baseballs and softballs have to be bought, pitching rubbers, bats, helmets, umpire equipment, catcher's gear, lime for the playing fields, upkeep for the batting cages, bags of chalk to line the fields, garbage cans, and port-a-pots are some of the expenses. We pay a fee to enter our teams into the end of the season League tournament.
For each sport there are items that get worn out or broken that we need to replace to keep the children safe. If a registration fee increases, it is because a business that we go through increased their prices.
Due to school budget constraints, we have helped fund the 7th and 8th grade baseball and softball programs. The Booster Club has helped us in this effort. In 2014, Little Bearcats paid $2,000. In 2015 we are contributing $2,500.
We are a nonprofit organization which means we use any extra funds for the best interests of our organization to purchase items that make Little Bearcat Sports an excellent organization!
Life is full of everyday deadlines we all have to meet for homework, our jobs, property taxes, house payments, car payments, etc... The Little Bearcats also have deadlines to meet and we really appreciate it when the forms are returned by the first deadline. After that, there is a late fee added. We have to make decisions based on the number of participants: how many coaches do we need? How many teams do we have competing? Do we have enough equipment? It is very difficult to make those decisions if we don't have all of the forms turned in. We want the participants to get lots of playing time and sometimes they don't get that opportunity if the teams get too large. Every parent wants their child to improve on their skills and see them make a great play, so our goal is to have 2 smaller teams rather than 1 large team whenever possible. We appreciate your help in meeting the registration deadline.