Youth sports tournaments are gone. The financial hit is a big one ... to all involved
For the past few days, 12-year-old Kate Wolf has insisted on wearing the same outfit. Whether she’s outside in the backyard playing catch with her father or inside lounging around, she wants to wear something that reminds her of better days.
Her softball uniform.
It is softball season, after all. Or at least it’s supposed to be.
In a normal year, Kate would be at the ball field with friends — practices during the week, tournaments all around the Kansas City metro on the weekends.
It is anything but a normal year.
“She misses it — it’s like missing your summer family,” said Doug Wolf, Kate’s father. “Mostly it’s just that you just don’t get to experience the fun.”
As the coronavirus shutdown has dragged into mid-April, the conclusion of its timeline still unclear, youth softball and baseball seasons are evaporating, weekend by weekend. Kids are without practices, without games, without cherished time with friends.
And, in some cases, they’re out some money, too.
Although the tournaments have been canceled or postponed, entry fees haven’t been fully returned to teams in some events, like those run by Triple Crown or Midwest Sports Productions.
Why?
They say they’re just trying to survive, too.
Triple Crown and Midwest Sports Productions, which oversees USSSA softball tournaments in the area, are holding back administrative fees from the refunds they offer teams. With MSP, teams can elect to either have 85% of their tournament entry payment returned, or they can apply the full cost toward a future tournament in 2020. The refund policy is listed on the group’s website and has been since long before the pandemic, they said.
For some teams, though, the future events aren’t an option — their summer calendars are booked solid already. Thus, they’re left sacrificing 15% of a charge that can range from $300 to $400, or even more for a tournament in which they never played an inning or took a single swing.
Jeremy McDowell, MSP’s CEO and founder, said his organization had already made purchases for the tournaments that were canceled — softball and other equipment, and awards for winning teams.
Add to that, McDowell oversees a full-time staff of 16 employees that he’s trying to keep at 16. He pays the rent on a 13,000 square-foot facility.
The 15% administrative fee, he said candidly, is a way to try to stay in business — a battle he still isn’t certain he will win.
“It’s a very, very deep concern,” said McDowell, who started MSP in 2007. “I’m a positive person in general, and I believe you gotta stay optimistic in times like these. But the threat is real. If we don’t figure out some way to get more assistance, or we don’t get the all-clear sooner rather than later, we have a legitimate chance of losing the business we do have.”
McDowell said he will explore options available through the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program, forgivable loans to small businesses to pay their employees during the coronavirus shutdown. He hopes it will provide assistance. In the meantime, those administrative fees are the sole source of incoming monry in a time of year the company usually calls its busy season.
Similarly, Triple Crown is offering either 100% credit or a refund that holds back an administrative fee. The policy varies based on each franchisee, but each team will be returned at least 80% of its payment if they opt for the refund, according to Thomas Hoffman, Triple Crown Sports’ director of media.
Others are opting for different routes.
Bob Burris runs an annual tournament at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph. The March tourney, which carries a $350 entry cost, was postponed. It might not be rescheduled at all. If not, he said he will refund money in full.
“We want people to come back,” he said.
And USA Softball has guaranteed its teams a full refund within seven days of cancellation, per its website.
“It’s a no-brainer,” said Mary Mahoney, the USA Softball Junior Olympics Commissioner for Kansas City. “It’s the right thing to do. People are hurting. They need the money. We don’t believe in keeping people’s money.”
It should be noted that USA Softball is a non-profit organization run by volunteers. It doesn’t have full-time employees at the local level but rather pays event staff after tournaments have been completed.
Midwest Sports Productions, on the other hand, is a business that 16 employees have turned into their livelihoods.
“I realize it’s a unique time for everybody,” McDowell said. “Businesses are trying to take care of their customer base — I mean, that’s how we’re built — but then also trying to navigate these times and keep the employees working.”
The revenue has dried up.
It has for the facilities, too.
Baseball and softball events are usually scattered throughout the city every weekend in spring and summer. Tournament operators pay city and county parks and recreation departments to rent the fields. But without tournaments taking place, the fees disappear, as well. It’s revenue the departments depend on every year.
“We’re just left out,” said Kevin Goodman, recreation manager for Belton Parks and Rec, which was set to host a softball tournament next weekend. “Not much we can do, because they can’t really charge their people for not being able to play in the tournament.”
Local government entities. Tournament organizers. Teams. They’re all financially affected by the cancellations.
At the root of it, the effect on the kids who were slated to participate is an emotional one.
Maddyx Kirkland, a junior at Kearney High, has played tournament softball since she was 7. She plans to play in college. She’s been on a team with the same friends for nearly a decade.
Now, she’s unable to even see them.
Right now, her only taste of the game she loves is taking a few swings off a tee or having her mom and dad hit some grounders to her in the street.
“It breaks my heart that I can’t play,” she said. “Just being on the field makes me so happy, and right now, that’s gone.”