The average annual cost of a child playing in a community sport competition is $4,567 — considerably higher than previously reported numbers, the ABC reports. The Cost of Sport study, commissioned by the Australian Sports Commission and undertaken by researchers from Federation University, surveyed about 5,500 participants across Australia and counted what earlier research missed: not just registration, but equipment, uniforms, coaching, travel, accommodation and the parental income lost to sporting commitments. Adults playing for themselves fork out $2,894 a year.
Rockhampton parents Aaron and Paula Harmsworth live the numbers. Their three children — Jace, 17, Sienna, 15, and Indy, 13 — have represented their city, region and state, with Sienna making Queensland teams in hockey, netball and touch football in 2026. "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,'" Aaron Harmsworth said. "But we counteract that pretty quickly with: 'There is no price tag on what the kids learn through sport.'"
Where the money goes
Lead researcher Professor Rochelle Eime said the figure only looks startling until it's itemised. "It seems like a really high number, but when you start looking at all the different categories, it all stacks up," she 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." Entry-level participation is far cheaper — averaging $1,161 a year for children — but, as Eime notes, "most people and families aren't just entry-level sport participants". Regional children face higher travel and accommodation costs; metropolitan families pay more for coaching and registration. Individual sports cost more than team sports.
The Harmsworth calendar makes the travel line vivid. "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," Harmsworth said. The costs aren't only monetary: "You certainly look at what the word family holiday means now and that generally means a sporting holiday."
'It's our village'
Danya Hodgetts, a senior researcher at CQUniversity and an expert in community sport who was not involved in the study, said the findings reflect what regional parents already know — and why they keep paying. "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," Dr Hodgetts said. "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."
Clubs are already repurposing equipment and uniforms, and many support state voucher programs — in Queensland, worth up to $200 per child. The Harmsworths' own saving grace is simpler: "the caravan and we take it everywhere we go". For Eime, the point of pricing the true cost is what comes next: "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."