FEE PHILOSOPHY

What goes into the fee?

We as members of the North Reading Youth Soccer Association (NRYS) are concerned about Player fees as much as you are.  Like you, we are parents with children in the soccer program.  Like you, we are parents of children that participate in many sports and activities that are fee based.  Like you, we are members of the Community of North Reading that wrestle with town spending.

While we are primarily a volunteer organization, there are substantial financial obligations that need to be met each and every season.  The purpose of this article is simply to give you a better appreciation of the components of the fees that must be charged each season in order to provide a quality program for the participants.

For purposes of this discussion let’s start at the top.  In this case, that refers to US Youth Soccer Association which oversees all United States Youth programs.   The next link in the chain is the state organization, Mass Youth Soccer.   After that are the leagues and ultimately the town or club team itself.  So, what does all this mean to NRYS?  In its’ simplest terms, each of the entities mentioned above imposes fees on their users for services provided. 

Your first reaction to this may be why is that?  What do I get out if it?  That is a very natural reaction, and one we have all had from time to time.  But, once you take a step back to realize that Mass Youth Soccer is providing classes to better teach our coaches and referees, providing the opportunity for many to play at high levels and working endlessly on the overall advancement of the game in this state and country, you understand the need for funds to continue their mission.

The league, in our case Essex, provides us with the means to create travel teams. This allows us to challenge our teams’ skills against those of other towns, thus allowing a new experience for our children.  More than that however, the league provides significant amount of resources which are needed for undertakings such as, scheduling of games and referees, registration with the state, running league tournaments and numerous administrative tasks.  Can you imagine the number of parent volunteers needed without this?  It makes concession duty look like a piece of cake!

Then there is NRYS.  As previously stated, this is in large part a volunteer organization, so many of the burdens and ultimately a lot of the ‘cost’ is born by the volunteer base.  However, there are three key areas where expenses are accumulated. 

The first of these are fees for usage of our fields.  We as an organization do not own these; therefore we pay a user fee for this privilege.  Privilege being a key word here, since I know many of you has seen some of the other facilities various towns need to endure.  We are lucky to have strong commitment from the individuals in Parks and Recreation to provide us with these facilities.  With that said though, the budget woes of "our" town have and continue to have an impact everywhere.  The per player user fees charged by Parks and Recreation have not been increased in several years, however, with recent cuts in their department and their desire to continually provide excellent facilities, fees need to be increased for all users.  While this is certainly understandable, it becomes a significant impact for an association with over 700 children participating. In fact, this is close to 50% of our seasonal costs.

   The second area of expenses is related to player development.  This includes such things as winter training and weekly clinics.  We have consciously made a significant effort to provide the highest quality training available.  In fact, as many of you are aware, we have used Benfica USA soccer club to do a lot of our training sessions.  This is a program that has numerous top class coaching resources, with one of their members recently being chosen by the New England Revolution as their Director of Youth Development.  We feel that providing consistent development to all participants in our program is paramount for their enjoyment and growth in the game.

The third and final costs are simply related to insurance, equipment and supplies.  While this is not a viewed as a glamorous function by any means, it is a necessity.  Insurance for our teams and league is required by Mass Youth Soccer.  Goals, nets, balls, corner flags, spray paint for the field lines, and first aid equipment are all necessary components of the games.

In conclusion, we want to assure you that we are constantly reviewing and managing our fees, as well as looking for ways to generate revenue in order to control cost and provide service.  As members of the board, parents and community members, we will continue to strive to provide the highest quality program we can within a reasonable cost structure.

Fall 2009 Fees

As many of you are aware, the per player user fees charged by Parks and Recreation were increased in the fall of 2008 in order to offset budget cuts to their department.

Our initial course of action to mitigate this increase in fees was to cut non-essential costs wherever we could and increase revenues from our major fund raiser "The Fall Classic" tournament.  We have been successful in reducing costs; however, revenues from the tournament were lower than expected.  The result of which is a need to increase user fees in order to maintain a successful program.

In conclusion, we want to assure you that we are constantly reviewing and managing our fee structure, as well as looking for ways to generate revenue in order to control cost and provide service.  As members of the board, parents and community members, we will continue to strive to provide the highest quality program we can within a reasonable cost structure.

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