This is … surprising. My kids play baseball and soccer, and it’s like $100/yr.
In my region travel teams for all sports are out of control. So long as you're willing to pay, your not-really-talented kid can play. And if your kid can't make the original travel team, or the one after that, or the one after that, someone is happy to fund their boat by creating another team.
Now, having coached a number of seasons, and having played sports at a high level in my youth, I can tell you that if your child is playing one season of rec per year, or honestly, not doing competitive sports, there’s no room to stand out at the HS level, and be considered for a college scholarship.
Now, I didn’t receive a college scholarship for athletics, but I’m certain being a 4y letterman and 2y captain and nominal valedictorian all played a part in my college acceptance letters, and significant reduction of post-collegiate debt at a tier-1 school.
I also had peers who didn’t do club sports in their HS sport until HS (i.e. switching from baseball to swimming) and they were granted scholarships.
The big point being: if you think sports are important (totally subjective and personal; I’m not going to argue for or against), you need to pursue club sports and move beyond rec.
Another (bonus) point: there’s tons of grift in club sports. I can totally see how someone would end up in debt, especially with multiple kids. And, I deeply sympathize with them, and hope that I’d be savvy enough to not get caught up in the game.
I did youth soccer in an expensive city as a kid (close to 20 years ago now), and I think my shorts and jersey were $30 (and that was for the fancy, custom team one). Double that for inflation now and you still have $40 left over, although I don't think my parents had to pay for anything else (since it was a public field and a volunteer-run league).
I had early kids in lots of activities 20+ years ago. I did not do the same for my later kids because most everything we found was massively more expensive.
Talking to parents who were involved, I learned a lot about how things changed. Modern activities really weren't the same offerings we had had.
What was informal had become formal. Activities required a much larger time commitment. Volunteers had become professionals. Coaching was a world more serious. Transportation was formalized. Things like shared gear seemed to have gone away. Even the designed uniforms where more expensive than coverings we had bought.
It had become cheaper for my younger kids to visit Belize and Alaska than to compete.
Yeah seriously. The final yearly cost of for-profit leagues easily runs into the thousands.
One off summer programs, subsidized by orgs like the Y, are often a lot more affordable.