Discussions

How much is it to play soccer with BYSA this season? Would be for a 13 year old. Have been checking the BYSA website but haven't found the fees.

If you fill out the form on the BYSA site it will then take you to step 2 with payment info. The cost for U10-U18 is $185 for 2017

It's getting ridiculously expensive...by my calculations it works out to about $12 per game (Not counting the year end tournament games or the games lost to rain)

Brandon Youth Soccer pays for refs at each game, they also provide jersey, shorts and soccer socks. They also have to pay someone for the office to deal with rosters, registrations, MSA, they also have to pay to get fields lines. I think $185 is a great deal !!!  
 
It takes money to run all the clubs, soccer, hockey, baseball. These clubs need to generate money to run.  
 
If people have a hard time paying for fees for any sport they can use KidSport or Jump Start. Both non-profits work hard to keep kids in sports.

Sports do get expensive fast. I use Kidsport for my son's football. It might be worth you looking into too.

As a referee for BYSA myself, I can say that it doesn't really seem like they've done too much to warrant the extra cost. They no longer use the Optimus Park fields for one, which means less cost for field rental. Since we use school fields, the only thing they have to do is paint lines, and they've done a horrendous job of keeping those fresh (last year I'm pretty sure they only painted once at the beginning of the season and once before the tournament, and the lines were impossible to see). Using those fields is due to the flooding of course, but my point still stands. They used to provide each game with one center referee as well as two assistant referees (sidelines) but now they only have one ref for each game, and instead coaches/parents are asked to help out in place of the sideline refs. On top of that, we used to also each be provided with two game balls as referees, and now we just use the practice balls the coaches bring. I haven't played BYSA soccer myself for a few years so I'm not 100% certain, but as far as I know they only provide players with their team jerseys. All the other equipment (shorts, socks, shin guards, cleats) is separate.  
 
Regardless, I'm a referee because I love doing it, I love the game and I love the people who play it. Whether BYSA has good reasons for some of these things, I don't know, but I really do think they can afford to lower their costs. They pay about 15-20 dollars or game for refs, probably 20-30 for jerseys, and however much else for the 1 or 2 people in charge of office and for the 2 times they paint the fields.

I assume the BYSA provides financial statements at an AGM if anyone wants to know where their money is going and why the high fees. If not happy with fees people should show up and ask questions. If they are not openly providing information, then there is a reason. If still not happy, volunteer for Board position and make changes. Sounds like maybe they are paying too much for wages. There are other great sports association in Brandon, that are run by volunteers (no paid wages) and only collect enough fees to run the program. With 13 Board of Directors at BYSA, they should be able to share the work load.

Bebop1978 said "Brandon Youth Soccer pays for refs at each game, they also provide jersey, shorts and soccer socks. They also have to pay someone for the office to deal with rosters, registrations, MSA, they also have to pay to get fields lines. I think $185 is a great deal !!!     It takes money to run all the clubs, soccer, hockey, baseball. These clubs need to generate money to run.     If people have a hard time paying for fees for any sport they can use KidSport or Jump Start. Both non-profits work hard to keep kids in sports. "

Do they? When my child played we got a shirt. From the ref's point it is expensive. You have to pay or supply volunteer hours. That i:ncludes handling registrations, medals, coaching, etc. We played on the school fields that were more dandelions than grass. Breaking it down per game at about what....$300 per game cost for players to pay, they get a head ref, sub par game field, and t-shirt? It is a rip off....sorry. Now if the fields and amenities were more professional it may justify the costing.

Tim Hortons supplies the shirts, shorts and socks for kids under 8. for kids over 8 BYSA supplies shirts, socks and shorts.

It is $185 for a 13 year old.  
The thing that gets me is that every year there are cancellations due to weather, but no refund back for those games and BYSA doesn't even try to make them up. Refs don't get paid if games are cancelled so where does that money go?  
I thing they should have a make up weekend the weekend before the tournaments for cancelled games, or give some kind of refund.

I know 2 years ago the city paid for all the t-shirts. All other clothes & cleats are bought by the parents.  
Not every game had a ref at it. Balls are kept from year to year so not all the balls are new.  
Just food for thought.