We signed up yesterday for our first tourney of the spring. Can't wait to be back out at the park with my 9U boys - should be a lot of fun, big learning curve but looking forward to the challenge. We can only get better, lol.
As to our fees - our organization, Oaks Dads Club runs a recreation league as well as offers a select team option for each age level for those that don't want to play rec ball anymore. Typically, these are the boys a little more serious dedicated, and frankly better than the rec league boys and should be playing against more competitive teams across the area. That said, because we don't want to "lose" kids to other select organizations across Houston - Premier, Marucci, etc - we offer the select team to pay yearly dues, which is the same as a typical spring season of rec league at ODC, if that makes sense. This allows us to utilize our home fields for practices throughout the week, while rec leagues use city of Houston fields, have access to our outdoor cages and have access to our own instructors who are NPA certified as well as team insurance through ODC. Full disclosure - I am the head coach for our 9U team - but it does work out fairly well for us. Plus, we get to keep the continuity of kids I've coached, some since they were 5 or 6 - we do pay for our entry fees and uniforms, however, have sponsorships and donors who have helped offset much of our costs.