Youth sports leagues in DFW: Where to sign your kid up

DFW youth sports are massive. Here's the landscape.

Multi-sport organizations:

• i9 Sports (multiple DFW) — non-competitive, every kid plays. Ages 3-14. Flag football, soccer, basketball, baseball. $120-170/season. Source: i9sports.com
• YMCA of Metro Dallas — swimming, basketball, soccer, gymnastics. Sliding scale membership. Source: ymcadallas.org
• City parks & rec leagues — every DFW city runs them. Cheapest option ($50-100/season).
  • Dallas: dallasparks.org
  • Fort Worth: fortworthtexas.gov/parks
  • Plano: plano.gov/parks

Football:

• DFW Youth Football League — competitive tackle and flag. Ages 5-14.
• NFL Flag Football — partnered through local parks departments. Source: nflflag.com

Soccer:

• FC Dallas Youth — competitive path. Tryouts required for select teams. Source: fcdallas.com/youth
• Texans Soccer Club (Fort Worth) — largest in Tarrant County.
• Solar Soccer Club (Dallas) — competitive, nationally ranked. Source: solarsoccerclub.com

Baseball:

• Little League — districts across DFW. Source: littleleague.org
• USSSA Baseball — competitive travel baseball. Multiple DFW organizations.

Swimming:

• Metroplex Aquatics (MAKO) — year-round competitive swim team. Source: teamunify.com/team/stmako
• City swim teams — Plano, Richardson, and others run summer league teams.

Cost reality:

• Recreation league: $50-170/season
• Select/travel: $500-2,000/season + travel + equipment
• Elite/academy: $2,000-5,000+/year

Sources:

• Organization websites
• DFW-area parks departments

What sports are your kids playing?