Our 2023 “Mom’s Impact” Report reveals that Mothers are the Unsung Heroes of their Children’s Success in Sports and Activities!

Soccer athlete's mom driving around her daughter in a minivan

Expert Author

Dave Knoepfle – Parent of a Former Student-Athlete, Team Fundraising Expert, eTeamSponsor

Author Bio: Dave is Chief Marketing Officer at eTeamSponsor, the leading fundraising partner for teams. He has been helping schools raise money for their teams, clubs, and activities since 2022.

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Read Time: 4 min

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Updated: 5/8/2023

Cold Coffee in a Blizzard

The sun had just risen, but you would never have known it as the heavy snow kept falling. Hands tight on the wheel my daughter and I followed the taillights in front of us up I-80 through the Donner Pass heading to her club volleyball tournament in Reno, NV. As I sipped my now cold coffee from our earlier 5am departure, I wondered how many other cars on the road were volleyball parents on their way to Reno in the blinding snowstorm. If this story sounds familiar, you must have (or had) children participating in organized sports or activities too!

Benefits of Participating in Sports

Every year millions of kids across the U.S. participate in organized sports and activities. The benefits of participating in sports and activities are well known – better grades, lower risk of being arrested, and lower risk of drug and alcohol abuse, to name a few. Less is known about the important role parents play in supporting their kids. With Mother’s Day on May 14th, the team here at eTeamSponsor initiated our 1st annual “Mom’s Impact” survey of over 200 parents about the role mom plays in supporting her child’s extracurriculars. For anyone who participated in organized sports or activities as a kid, the results confirm what you probably already know, moms are the unsung heroes of their children’s success!

A Mother’s Dedication

On average mom’s dedicate a generous five and 1/3 hours a week – and 14% spend a whopping ten hours or more a week – supporting their kid’s extracurricular activities. In addition, like me on that snowy pass over the Sierra Nevada’s on the way to Reno, 12% of mothers in our survey said they got up at 4am or earlier, and 28% reporting getting up at 5am or earlier, to take their child to a sporting event or activity – now that’s dedication!

The Cost of Organized Sports & Activities

Mom’s support wasn’t just limited to her time, survey respondents said they spent an average of $4,400 a year to fund their children’s participation in organized sports and activities. And over 8% of mom’s indicated spending a staggering $10,000 or more a year on their kid’s organized sports and activities!

Given the financial burden of kids’ organized sports and activities, it came as no surprise to find that a majority of moms (57%) indicated that their children used fundraising to help support their team, activity, or club. The traditional bake sale (30%) and digital fundraising platforms, like eTeamSponsor, (22%) were selected as the most effective fundraising tools their children use to support their extracurricular activities.

Average Number of Sports & Activities Per Child

Despite our in-going assumptions, kids today don’t appear to be overscheduled as we thought, averaging 2.6 organized sports or activities per child per family. This finding warrants more study and could be the result of reduced participation rates in high school sports post-pandemic or a sign that the trend of specialization (focusing on one sport or activity) is continuing.

Conclusion

To all the mothers out there, we say happy Mother’s Day and thank you for your dedication and support! Keep that coffee pot humming and the SUV or Minivan fueled up and ready to go! Oh, and my daughter’s volleyball tournament in Reno? 10th place out of 35 teams, well worth the 5am wake up and drive through the blinding snow!

Sources: The benefits of youth sports is sourced from NFHS article, “The Case for High School Sports“. The remainder of the article is sourced from the May 2023 eTeamSponsor “Moms Impact” Survey of over 200 parents of school age children (5-18) in the United States.