SPORT THAT DOESN'T PAY - A CHALLENGE!

[We Two]

Much is made on this forum about players who demand large sometimes crippling fees to play for a club.     Many will remember playing for nowt, just the honour of playing for your town or village, or adopted club.
Those days have gone however, with travelling expences at the very least expected and paid by most clubs.
This got us thinking about which sports and events at a local level, are available where the costs involved are borne by the participant and not expected to be provided free of charge by the provider, their contribution being the upkeep of the facility.
What fantastic football stadiums we would have if that principal was followed on the football circuit.
How many sports can we name where the onus is on the participant to fund his/her taking part.
We will set the ball rolling with GOLF where the participants, ( often footballers ) pay a fee to use the facilities provided, and wouldn't expect otherwise .

[Postman Pat]

But each club has a professional😎

[St Newlyn East AFC]

I'll throw in competitive swimming! Have to pay just over £70 a month for membership to my daughter's local swimming club (covers pool hire and coach's fees etc.) plus approximately another £5 to £8 for each race she enters at a gala.....

[silly billy]

4 hours ago, We Two said:

Much is made on this forum about players who demand large sometimes crippling fees to play for a club.     Many will remember playing for nowt, just the honour of playing for your town or village, or adopted club.
Those days have gone however, with travelling expences at the very least expected and paid by most clubs.
This got us thinking about which sports and events at a local level, are available where the costs involved are borne by the participant and not expected to be provided free of charge by the provider, their contribution being the upkeep of the facility.
What fantastic football stadiums we would have if that principal was followed on the football circuit.
How many sports can we name where the onus is on the participant to fund his/her taking part.
We will set the ball rolling with GOLF where the participants, ( often footballers ) pay a fee to use the facilities provided, and wouldn't expect otherwise .

Take football and maybe rugby out of the equation and virtually every sport locally has  to be funded by the participants 

[SCFC]

27 minutes ago, silly billy said:

Take football and maybe rugby out of the equation and virtually every sport locally has  to be funded by the participants 

lets not pretend cricket dont pay

[We Two]

3 hours ago, Postman Pat said:

But each club has a professional😎

Professional coach perhaps, but they are there for the benefit of the PAYING public.

[Postman Pat]

All sports are the same. How many times have you heard if you play for me I can get you work. It happened to me in 1985 and I spent 3 good seasons at St. Day  and 28 years working for Royal Mail 

[St Darren]

12 hours ago, We Two said:

Much is made on this forum about players who demand large sometimes crippling fees to play for a club.     Many will remember playing for nowt, just the honour of playing for your town or village, or adopted club.
Those days have gone however, with travelling expences at the very least expected and paid by most clubs.
This got us thinking about which sports and events at a local level, are available where the costs involved are borne by the participant and not expected to be provided free of charge by the provider, their contribution being the upkeep of the facility.
What fantastic football stadiums we would have if that principal was followed on the football circuit.
How many sports can we name where the onus is on the participant to fund his/her taking part.
We will set the ball rolling with GOLF where the participants, ( often footballers ) pay a fee to use the facilities provided, and wouldn't expect otherwise .

There are some golf clubs that provide “membership” free of charge to some players so they are available to play in their CTC team!!!

[Lloydy]

22 hours ago, SCFC said:

lets not pretend cricket dont pay

Cricket do pay, but for a very minimal amount of players. All players at St Austell CC who play in the first 11, all pay for their own kit, £50 membership per year, £4 per game, and have to bring their contribution to the teas when playing at home.

[karaoke]

Show Jumping cost a bomb to support and enter.

[fenman]

As well as being involved with football management I'm also involved in motorcycle racing . My son races and we share the cost's , we do 5 meetings a year and each meeting's entry fee is £300 , we use a set of tyres at £350 a pair , per meeting . Luckily living in Norfolk most circuits are  around 150 miles away  , the exception being Castle Combe which is 250 miles . In comparison to some of the lads in the South West who race  150 miles is fairly close . In addition to the cost per meeting there is also the cost of maintenance and sundries like oil , fuel and brake pads etc. . People tell us we are barking mad spending all this but my attitude is that if you want to do it it's no good talking about it .Life passes you by so quickly  so you've got to grasp things while you're young . I must admit that I get a bit annoyed when players moan about £3.00 match fees or £10  caution fine and then buy  20 fags and a couple of pints after the match .

If Dave Avery secretary of Tregoney FC  reads this " thanks for your help with the racing . It's much appreciated . 

[herbie777]

Running is very expensive can cost as much as 50 pounds for a marathon or 25 pounds for a 10k.

[St Darren]

On 29/11/2018 at 16:41, herbie777 said:

Running is very expensive can cost as much as 50 pounds for a marathon or 25 pounds for a 10k.

Plus £80 for a pair of trainers every 6 months 

[Ronaldo]

On 26/11/2018 at 21:46, St Darren said:

There are some golf clubs that provide “membership” free of charge to some players so they are available to play in their CTC team!!!

Robert McGregor 

[Keith B]

On 26/11/2018 at 09:35, We Two said:

Much is made on this forum about players who demand large sometimes crippling fees to play for a club.     Many will remember playing for nowt, just the honour of playing for your town or village, or adopted club.
Those days have gone however, with travelling expences at the very least expected and paid by most clubs.
This got us thinking about which sports and events at a local level, are available where the costs involved are borne by the participant and not expected to be provided free of charge by the provider, their contribution being the upkeep of the facility.
What fantastic football stadiums we would have if that principal was followed on the football circuit.
How many sports can we name where the onus is on the participant to fund his/her taking part.
We will set the ball rolling with GOLF where the participants, ( often footballers ) pay a fee to use the facilities provided, and wouldn't expect otherwise .

Tennis - you pay your membership fee. Most clubs have a shop now and some, but not all, are owned or run by ex pros. Of course you buy your own rackets and kit. Balls are usually supplied and you can buy them in the shop anyway.

[We Two]

Motor sport seems to take the crown for the most expensive sport for participants, closely followed by showjumping and athletics.
Cricket, Golf, Tennis, and Swimming all attract a membership fee at the very least, plus the cost of the equipment needed to take part, the same can be said for Bowls, Pool, Snooker, Darts, and Archery,
The point of starting this thread, was to prove to ourselves, if proof was needed, that most sport related activities across the board, rely on participants  paying fees for the very existence of their sport.
Maybe football clubs should have a rethink about how they exist, and be a little less reliant on their sugar daddies, because when the money ceases to flow, invariably the only flow taking place is players out of the door to pastures new.
We believe that when clubs begin to recognise the need to upgrade their facilities for the supporters ( a few have ) the turnstile revenue will increase and they may even become self funding.
Miracles may happen but we think not when as Leeds United confirmed on another thread, what is in the trophy cabinet is all that matters.