Bank accounts are sport's losers

Financing the kids' extracurricular activities can be an expensive business, but there are ways to keep the costs under control

- Serina Bird

I’m writing this while I’m visiting Sydney as my son participates in a table tennis competition. How expensive can table tennis be? Many Aussies grew up playing table tennis in the garage, and we never saw it as expensive. But with annual club fees, group coaching lessons, special bats, balls, uniforms and long trips interstate, it all adds up. And then there’s the cost of the mortgage on a house large enough to accommodate the table.

My friend Tracy has three kids, all of whom are sporty with a whiff of Olympic potential. One is big on fencing, and another is in the state and national water polo teams. The family has not long returned from a sports trip to Perth, one of several interstate trips this year. Her advice about managing money and extracurricular activities? Don’t do sport if you want to have money!