The price of a dream: how much does it cost to raise a professional footballer?

Imagine a five-year-old boy standing on a football field with eyes full of admiration, clutching a brand new ball and dreaming of becoming the next Shevchenko. For him, football is the joy of scoring goals and socializing with friends, while for his parents, it’s bills, worn-out boots, and endless trips to tournaments. The beginning of the journey seems simple: a few training sessions a week, the first competitions, and new equipment, but behind every victory lies a specific amount in the family budget – for coaches, logistics, and sports equipment. UNN found out how much the dream of “becoming a football player” costs in Ukraine.

“First whistle”: initial investments The beginning of a football career usually falls between 3 and 6 years old, when a child enters a preschool group. Parents’ expenses at this stage are moderate – from UAH 1000 to UAH 2000 per month for training, depending on the region. Expenses for training clothes and shoes are also added – on average, this is UAH 1500, and 2 such sets are needed per year. So, in the end, we have: UAH 18,000 (average training cost UAH 1500) and another UAH 3,000 for 2 sets of training uniforms. So, a year of sports for the youngest football players costs UAH 21,000. Over 3 years, parents will have to pay UAH 63,000. 

After this stage, the child moves to the junior and middle groups, where they spend 6 years. The cost of training and uniform does not change critically. So, raising a young football player from 6 to 12 years old costs parents another UAH 126,000. This also includes travel expenses, medical services (if necessary), and expenses for away matches. A significant item of expenditure is the budget for boots. One pair of professional football boots costs an average of UAH 5,000, and 2 such pairs are needed per year, so shoe expenses over 6 years reach UAH 60,000. And the final check for the development of a young athlete is over UAH 300,000. And this is just the beginning of the journey.

However, there are exceptions – when parents are lucky enough to send a young football player to a Children and Youth Sports School (DYFSH), where these costs are partially or fully covered by football clubs. For example, the Metalist 1925 Football Academy covers the cost of uniforms from the very first stage – young pupils receive a full set: T-shirt, shorts, socks, and parents buy a second set for change themselves. Thanks to this math, over 9 years, parents’ expenses for uniforms are halved. Moreover, as Roman Melnyk, director of DYFSH Metalist 1925, said, the football club partially covers the maintenance of the school, which allows reducing the cost of training and the financial pressure on parents. 

A month of training at “Metalist 1925 Kids” costs 1200-1600 UAH, depending on the number of sessions per week. This is one of the lowest prices in Kharkiv. At the same time, the expenses for the payroll fund, field rent, and hall rent in the cold season are partially covered by FC “Metalist 1925”. This allows us to keep democratic prices for training. So that more young Kharkiv residents have the opportunity to play football

photo source: official website of FC “Metalist 1925”

He also added that starting from the junior group, DYFSH pupils have the opportunity to engage in swimming, gymnastics, and acrobatics in addition to football. For the versatile and proper development of the athlete’s body. And this is also covered by FC “Metalist 1925”, so the financial burden does not fall on the parents’ shoulders. 

“In-depth specialization”: adult football After 12 years, a real test for the family budget begins. After all, the load on a young football player increases, there are more training sessions, equipment wears out faster, and massage and medical services are added to the expenses. And away matches become commonplace, for which parents pay considerable sums. 

Let’s add here sets of playing and training uniforms, thermal underwear, socks, shin guards, a backpack, professional boots, running shoes. And now the annual check for maintaining a young football player already exceeds UAH 80,000 for basic expenses: about UAH 30,000 for training, UAH 26,000 for equipment and shoes, and a minimum of UAH 27,000 for away matches, sports nutrition, and medical services. So, raising a future professional football player from 12 to 18 years old costs almost half a million hryvnias. It should be noted that this amount does not include force majeure expenses caused by injuries. 

If at this stage of calculations your head is spinning and parents realize that their budget will not withstand the financial pressure of a big football dream – it is worth seriously considering the possibility of raising a young athlete in a Specialized Football School. After all, some of them cover the costs of maintaining a football player as much as possible. The only obstacle to such an all-inclusive is to pass the selection for a top-level team. 

photo source: official website of FC “Metalist 1925”

The strongest players of our DYFSH after 12 years old get into the academic groups of the school. In which they develop until they are 17 years old. Professional training requires a serious approach: regime, diet, intensive training – due to the full-scale war, it was impossible to implement this in Kharkiv, so the management of the football club relocated the school to Kyiv in the summer of 2024. Here, the costs for training football players are no longer borne by the parents, but by the club itself (editor’s note: FC “Metalist 1925”). Children live, train, study, and develop according to a clearly built system – thanks to which they can maximize their natural potential and grow into international-level football players

In addition, FC “Metalist 1925” pays scholarships to pupils of the academic groups of DYFSH – the amounts vary from UAH 1,000 to UAH 10,000 per month and depend on the age and achievements of the athlete. Currently, 120 children study at the Kyiv academy, 30 of whom are scholarship holders. And 450 young athletes train at the Kharkiv DYFSH “Metalist 1925”. 

For many families, professional football is indeed a heavy financial burden. And we don’t want a child’s talent to fade just because their parents didn’t have enough money for boots or a trip to a tournament. Therefore, the club takes on this blow: we cover the costs of uniforms, medicine, food, away trips, and provide scholarships. Because for us, these are not just expenses – they are an investment in future professionals, in the development of Kharkiv children, and in Ukrainian football in general. Our task is to give the child a chance to shine and prove that they can play at the top level

photo source: official website of FC “Metalist 1925”

ConclusionSo, before dreaming of big stadiums and loud victories, parents should honestly look at reality: football is not only the emotions of goals and victories, but also serious financial and time costs. These are daily training sessions, long away trips, dozens of pairs of worn-out boots, and hundreds of hours invested in a child’s development. In essence, it is an investment in character, discipline, and a person’s future.

And that is why football academies like DYFSH “Metalist 1925” play a special role. Here, children are thought of not only as potential professionals, but as individuals who need support so that their dream does not break off halfway. This is a place where young football players are fought for, investing not only money but also heart. It is thanks to such schools that junior football in Ukraine gets a chance to turn children’s fantasies about big sports into real success stories.