Source : ABC NEWS
For Rockhampton parents Aaron and Paula Harmsworth, keeping three children involved in multiple sports comes with a growing price tag.
“It’s something we talk about regularly because we do look at the bank balance and go, ‘Geez, we’re spending a lot of money here,'” Mr Harmsworth said.
“But we counteract that pretty quickly with: ‘There is no price tag on what the kids learn through sport.’
“The people they meet, the places they go, and the different traits they learn … respect and resilience, they’re probably two of the biggest key components.”
Siblings Sienna, Indy and Jace Harmsworth are all competing at representative level in a range of sports. (ABC Capricornia: Aaron Kelly)
New research has found the average annual total cost for a child to play in a community sport competition is $4,567 a year, considerably higher than previously reported numbers.
The Cost of Sport study, commissioned by the Australian Sports Commission and undertaken by researchers from Federation University, also found adults were forking out $2,894 per year for themselves to play.
Researchers investigated a wide range of expenses, including registration, equipment, uniforms, coaching, travel, accommodation and lost parental income due to sport commitments.
Sienna Harmsworth has earned selection in Queensland teams in three sports this year. (Supplied: The Cathedral College)
For the Harmsworth family, those costs quickly add up.
Their children, Jace, 17, Sienna, 15, and Indy, 13, have represented their city, region and state in various sports, with Sienna making Queensland teams in hockey, netball and touch football in 2026.
Already this year, sport has taken the central Queensland family from Hobart to Darwin and plenty of places in between.
“We have to map out our year and generally we have to be pretty organised,” Mr Harmsworth said.
“This year alone we’ve done Goulburn, Gold Coast, Mackay, Brisbane, and then back to Brisbane, Hobart, Mackay, Cairns, Melbourne, Gold Coast again, Mackay again, Brisbane, Coffs Harbour, Darwin, back to Brisbane, back to Mackay, Cairns and Hervey Bay.”
This year alone Sienna Harmsworth has pulled on the maroon jersey in hockey, netball and touch football. (Supplied: Paula Harmsworth)
It all adds up for families
The study’s lead researcher, Rochelle Eime, said previous research had tended to focus on registration fees, while her team captured the broader financial commitment families made to sport.
“It seems like a really high number, but when you start looking at all the different categories, it all stacks up,” Professor Eime said.
“You’ve got $1,400 for coaching for an individual sport on average, $1,000 lost to parent income to travel, another $700 for tournament or competition accommodation fees, $500 for travel.“
Rochelle Eime says travel, coaching and other costs can quickly add up for families involved in community sport. (Supplied: Rochelle Eime)
Mr Harmsworth said the sacrifices for his family were not just monetary.
“You accrue leave and, all of a sudden, you’re using your leave on a sporting trip,” he said.
“You certainly look at what the word family holiday means now and that generally means a sporting holiday.“
New research has found the average annual cost of community sport for a child is more than $4,500. (ABC News: Jonathon Gul)
The study surveyed about 5,500 sport participants across Australia, including children and adults.
It found the overall cost for children to play sport was similar in regional and remote areas compared with metropolitan areas.
But regional children faced higher travel and accommodation costs, while metropolitan families paid more for coaching and registration fees.
Equipment such as headgear and boots can add to the cost of playing community sport. (ABC News: Jen Browning)
Entry-level participation was much cheaper, averaging $1,161 a year for children, while the average cost for adults was $1,200.
Individual sports were also found to be more expensive than team sports.
“What we’re seeing is most people and families aren’t just entry-level sport participants,”
Professor Eime said.
“As soon as you get into that later childhood, you do need to travel to play in competitions and that all adds up.”
Researchers say the cost of community sport rises as children progress into competitive and representative sport. (AAP: Joe Castro)
Keeping kids in the game
Professor Eime said sporting clubs and organisations were already finding ways to ensure cost did not become a barrier to participation.
Some were repurposing equipment and uniforms, while many supported state government voucher programs, which in Queensland can reduce the cost of sport by up to $200 per child.
“The value of community sport is so great for our children in terms of their youth development and social connectedness, a whole range of different life skills they get from playing sport,” Professor Eime said.
A shot at goal can come with a growing price tag for sporting families. (AAP: Dave Hunt)
“If we highlight what the true costs are, and they are much higher than what previous research has shown, we need to actually do something about it because everyone should have the chance to play community sport.”
Danya Hodgetts, a senior researcher at CQUniversity and an expert in community sport, who was not involved in the study, said the findings reflected what many regional parents already knew: that the cost of getting their children off screens and involved in sport extended well beyond registration fees.
Danya Hodgetts says community sport provides benefits that extend well beyond the playing field. (Supplied: CQUniversity)
“It’s a really tricky situation because it is important that, while we talk about the cost of sport, we also talk about the value of sport because we know sport is valuable,” Dr Hodgetts said.
“It builds good humans, keeps kids out of trouble, it keeps them occupied, it keeps them healthy and it also, particularly in regional areas, it’s our village.
“Sporting clubs are the networks that parents and kids rely on to help get through daily life, not just inside sport, but outside of sport as well.”
More sporting road trips are ahead for the Harmsworth family, with the September school holidays bringing another round of travel. (ABC Capricornia: Aaron Kelly)
For the Harmsworth family, finding ways to keep those costs under control has become part of playing the sporting game.
Mr Harmsworth said their caravan had become one of their biggest money savers.
“One of our saving graces is the caravan and we take it everywhere we go,” he said.
“You also need to book early and in advance in a lot of cases, particularly your bigger sporting carnivals.”
