What’s the ROI for my kids’ water polo?

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It’s tax season, and every year while in my office, I yell out to my wife, “Dara, do you know how much we freakin spent on water polo last year.” As I review expenses for the year, it is one of the biggest expenses for us as a family. We have four kids who have all played competitive water polo. In fact, we have named the 2010’s as our family’s “decade of water polo.”

The haunting question hits me each year… is it worth the cost? The time, the money, the travel. Could we have invested our family’s resources in a better way? More surf trips, camping trips, vacations, cultural experiences? Could we have simply given the kids cash and taught them to invest it so they would be thriving financially in their 20’s? Talking to parents of other water polo families, and families with kids in sports in general, I think we’ve all asked similar questions.

The first line of discussion when talking about ROI (Return on Investment) is often about kids getting scholarships in college because their investment in high school/club sports. Hats off to all the kids that get these. They deserve them for so many reasons. That said, it is rare that students receive these scholarships, and the reality is that most do not. All my kids have played for strong Southern California teams and are high achieving student athletes. Reality is, however, only one or two will try for a water polo scholarship in college.

So, is it worth it? What is the cost (in dollars) and is there a return on this investment?

First the cost. Here is the breakdown. I’m being conservative. We have probably paid much more.

Average Club Fees Per Year = $2400
Tournaments Fees for Year = $1800
Gear + Associated Costs = $500
Travel + Food = $2000
High School Water Polo = $800 

Total Per Kid Water Polo Cost (annually): $7,500

Total Per Kid Cost for 4 Years of High School Water Polo
$30,000 X 4 DeSoto Kids: $120,000

OUCH!

So…. when our last child graduates in a couple years, we will have spent at least $120,000 on water polo for our kids to play through high school (not to mention before and after high school). 

What could we have spent that money on?

  • 12 European, Hawaiian, or Indonesian trips for me and Dara

  • A souped up RV Sprinter

  • A brand new car for each of our kids  

  • A house in Georgia 

  • Another property with a house in El Salvador on the beach

  • Etc…Etc…Etc..

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Ok, those are a little selfish. But, what if I just invested the cash and let it sit for 50 years til our first kids start to retire?

If we put $120K into investments and got a 7% annual ROI on the money, it would be worth $3.5 million in 50 years. Here is Dave Ramsey’s nifty calculator. 

That’s a lot of money.  So, still the question:  Is it worth it?

Money

I started by removing college scholarships as a consideration in the calculation.  Although possible, I don’t want to include because I can’t count on them.  I did find 3 more tangible financial data points I could use as a return on the money we’ve put into our kids.  There may be others, but I’m choosing to look at the following:

#1 - Jobs

Both our boys have earned money each year as beach lifeguards.  Although they could have possibly earned that position without playing polo, there is a direct correlation between their athletic ability and responsibility, fostered in polo, that translates to their roles as lifeguards. Our girls both want follow in their footsteps, and are on their way to do so. 

Both boys will have worked up to 6 seasons from HS through college averaging about $7,500 per season. For 6 seasons that equals $45,000. If all 4 kids do this (most likely will), the total amount is $180,000.  I won’t see this money, but it has and will contribute to college, living expenses, and their investment in their futures. 

Potential Return: $180,000

#2 - Health

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The savings that comes from healthy lifestyle is well known.  Studies are showing that those that exercise and maintain healthy living save $2,500 a year in medical related expenses (NY Times article here). Water polo has trained our kids to be athletes who take very good care of their bodies. Their work out and diet regiment should carry on through the rest of their lives.  If so, they have the opportunity to each save $125K (50 years x $2,500) on medical costs if they do like my grandpa did and exercise strenuously into their early 80’s.  

Potential Return: $500,000

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#3 - Earning Potential

There is much debate on the value of a college degree. Still, the data shows a significant gap in earning potential between those that go and those that don’t. Our kids water polo has been a huge contributor to their scholastic success. Our 2 sons are both on college tracks, and our girls have high GPA’s and planning for college.  The discipline and healthy peer group gained by polo can not be understated in their success.  The Social Security Administration (link here) reports that men with a college degree will earn $900K more than those without over their lifetime, and women will earn $630K more (waiting for the day this is more equal). If all four of our kids graduate from college, which they seem on track to do, the pay off is large, more than $3 million. 

Potential Return: $3,060,000

Combined Potential ROI (over 50 year period) = $3,740,000

So, an argument can be made that there is a larger return on investment from water polo for our kids than if we just put the money in investments for 50 years.  Obviously, any calculation has a good deal of speculation to it, but there is an argument here.  Investing in your kids high school sports can have a positive return on investment.

If that were the end of the story, it could be a weak argument depending on how you look at the numbers. But, as I compile tax return information this year, and choke over many of our expenses, there is so much more that has been returned to us through our decade of water polo.  Here are 3 ways that the investment has had significant dividends that I believe will continue to pay off:

(ROI) Time 
We have logged thousands of hours with our children. In cars, on pool decks, in restaurants, at friends houses, at their school. Rather than being passive observers, water polo parents are active participants with our children.

(ROI) Community
Over the last decade, we have met incredible families that make up the water polo community in Southern California.  We can be a bit intense, but for the most part these families are hard working people dedicated to their children, their schools, and their neighborhoods.  All our kids have felt intimately part of something special. When we moved to Carlsbad from Seal Beach in 2016, we were embraced by the water polo community. When my son attended SDSU, a college with over 30,000 students, he found a solid group of friends who played water polo. They are some of his best friends now as he draws near to graduating.  My girls have friends who feel like sisters. This community is a treasure and something that cannot be measured in money.

(ROI) Values
Our kids have learned tremendous values from playing such a demanding sport, and from the positive influences of coaches, teammates, and parents. Discipline, respect, responsibility, endurance, competition, teamwork, overcoming adversity, and sacrifice are just some of the values that have been engrained in our kids. As they age, we get glimpses of how these values produce fruit outside the pool. They take what they learn in the water and ferociously take on the world with little fear.  If you can overcome being held underwater in the “hole” or have to endure hour long brutal swim sets, there is little that can scare you on land. 

Conclusion

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This is a bit of pep talk to myself, as I get back to preparing our taxes. But, I hope it is also encouragement to all of you parents who sacrifice to support your kids in whatever they do.  The investment is worth it in so many ways. I do believe the numbers pencil, but the less tangible rewards far exceed monetary gain.  Hang in there parents, a trip to Europe may be closer than you think.