Maple Grove Store Aims To Help Families Save on Youth Sports
Whether your child is in one sport, or multiple, the costs can add up quickly.
“Absolutely, especially when they try something out and then decide that they don’t like it the first time out,” said Ryan Ollinger of Maple Grove, who was out shopping for soccer equipment for his son.
In his quest to save money, Ollinger made his way to Play It Again Sports in Maple Grove, a store dedicated to buying and selling used sporting equipment.
Tom Fraser owns the store with his wife, Shannon.
“We have two young boys, that’s kind of how we got into it,” said Fraser. “They started getting into sports and we realized how expensive everything was. If you have kids that do multiple sports, you can spend, $8,000, $9,000, $10,000 a year on new equipment.”
Youth sports is essentially built into the fabric of Maple Grove, but Fraser says the city didn’t have a whole lot of places where families could buy used sporting goods.
Tom Fraser owns the Maple Grove Play It Again Sports with his wife, Shannon.
That all changed when they opened this store in August of 2024.
“We might not be perfect for everybody, but I think that we can probably help out most,” said Fraser.
He says roughly 75 percent of all the merchandise they sell is used.
Fraser claims that people can save about 50 percent or more on the equipment they need by buying it at Play It Again Sports versus a major sporting goods retailer that sells new merchandise.
“It keeps old items out of the trash, it’s a good way to recycle that, it’s green,” Fraser said. “And it just helps people, especially with young kids, save some money and equip them for each season.”
Youth Sports Costs Go Up
According to ProjectPlay.org, families spend more than $1,000 a year for their child to play their primary sport. That’s up from $693 in 2019.
So if there’s an opportunity to save a few bucks on equipment, Ollinger says having this resource in the community is a big help.
“I think it’s great for younger kids, especially, because they grow out of things so quickly,” said Ollinger. “It gives us the opportunity to try a lot of different things and not buy brand new things every single time.”
According to ProjectPlay.org, some of the reasons for the increased cost of youth sports include higher prices on team registration, travel, lodging and private instruction.
Related: Maple Grove Community Center Construction Beginning to Rise Out of Ground
