Sports

Big hike in fees for San Diego sports leagues leaves players on the bench

Published

4 months ago

August 18, 2025

Every Tuesday night, volleyball nets are set up at Mariner’s Point Park in Mission Bay. People flock to the beach, catching up with old friends and meeting new people while joining pickup games and drills.

Some have been playing volleyball for more than 40 years. Others just started that week. They range in age from college students to retirees who just want a little bit of exercise. Here, they all have a chance to play.

These are not professional players. They all come to play, socialize and get exercise together in the adult recreational league Life’s A Beach Volleyball.

Daniel Palenchar started Life’s A Beach because of his passion for inclusivity in sports.

“We exist for really everybody,” he said. “Our mission is to make beach volleyball accessible for all people.”

Life’s A Beach isn’t the only adult recreation league in town. There are many running games and tournaments in every sport from kickball to tennis. But last month, organizers found out that their leagues are going to get a lot more expensive.

On July 1, for-profit adult sports leagues in San Diego saw a jump in team fees, sometimes more than doubling. The fees for one team to use a field with lights for a season went from $138 in March to $393. And that additional cost will most likely be passed on to players.

Kevin Hellman has been playing softball his entire life and has run San Diego Softball since 1987. He said he already had to contend with other rising costs, including the price of equipment, and the jump in team fees could be too much for players.

“It’s just a big increase for people to stomach when they can’t afford to buy groceries,” he said.

San Diego’s budget problems are behind the increases. The city had to find new revenue streams to balance its budget this year.

Increasing team fees would allow the city to almost break even on the cost of maintaining the fields, lighting them, paying employees who staff recreation centers and other costs, said Baku Patel, a policy analyst at the city’s Office of the Independent Budget Analyst. Currently, the city subsidizes the use of fields and courts, so users don’t foot the whole bill themselves.

The Parks Department recommended slowly raising the fees over the next year. But the City Council decided on an abrupt approach — hiking fees by up to $228 per team at the beginning of July, which covers 90% of the total cost of providing fields for sports leagues. The sudden increase in expenses has left leagues reeling.

Many organizers didn’t find out that their fees were increasing until they applied for their permits for the upcoming season. The jump in cost is so significant that many will be forced to drastically increase the costs they charge teams. That runs the risk of pricing out players.

For many business owners who run these leagues, it can feel like they are bearing an undue burden, Hellman said.

“I understand the city is trying to close a crazy budget gap,” he said. “But don’t do it on the back of the citizens that just want to run around for an hour.”

A volleyball player hits a ball at a Life's a Beach recreation league meetup in San Diego, August 5, 2025. — A volleyball player hits a ball at a Life’s a Beach recreation league meetup in San Diego, August 5, 2025.

The increased fees impact for-profit companies only, including Volo Sports, a nationwide company, as well as local companies like San Diego Softball, said City Councilmember Joe LaCava. The council has been subsidizing these businesses up until now by charging them a user fee that sometimes only covered 40% of the costs to maintain the facilities, he said.

“Those organizations can make their choices about how much they charge the participants and how their business model works,” LaCava said. “This was a tough year. We had to squeeze every place we could … A lot of other fees and fines were increased as well.”

Nonprofit adult leagues and for-profit kids sport leagues will not see a price jump, he said. But the few nonprofit adult leagues, like the YMCA, don’t necessarily have the space for all the people who want to participate.

And the increase will disproportionately affect smaller companies. Some for-profit leagues don’t have full-time employees and are run by one person part-time. Some are just breaking even or already in debt, said Life’s A Beach’s Palenchar.

LaCava acknowledged that the fee increase didn’t account for the wide variety in businesses that it affected.

“Certainly we’ve heard from some of the smaller outfits that they make just enough to make it worth their effort,” he said. “They’re doing it as much for the passion as they are for the minimal amount of net proceeds that they achieve there.”

LaCava wants to explore other options for leagues in the future, including a possible model where the city would get a portion of the recreation league’s profit or different fee scales based on a business’s size.

But that won’t come in time for league leaders this season. Some said the increase will make it much more difficult for people to participate in recreational activities after work.

Ducote Contreras was the managing director of Volo San Diego until this April, and said the prices are untenable for community members. He said Volo couldn’t find a way to keep players’ fees the same and still provide their service.

“It’s just something we can’t do,” he said. “It would have people paying upwards of almost $200 to play kickball, and that just doesn’t make any sense. We’re in the business of creating community and getting people together.”

The City Council also voted against a proposed roughly $5 increase for youth sports teams. Part of their reasoning was that even a small increase could affect many families’ ability to participate in recreation.

Many adult league leaders agree that recreation is crucial to people’s health and wellbeing, and argue those benefits are still important, even after people stop being kids.

“We can really step in and give a chance for that person who just moved here to find their community, to find what’s going on just a couple of blocks from their home or right after work,” Contreras said. “I do feel very strongly that having these outlets for adults is extremely important for people’s lives.”

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Sports

Purdue volleyball vs Baylor NCAA tournament final score, game result, next

Published

10 minutes ago

December 6, 2025

Your Sports Nation

8:25 pm ET December 5, 2025

When is Purdue volleyball’s next game? Purdue volleyball next game in Sweet 16. Who does Purdue volleyball play next?

Aaron Ferguson

Barring an upset, the Boilers are headed to Pittsburgh, the No. 1 seed in their quadrant. Times for next weekend are to be determined, and Purdue will know its opponent late Saturday night. Florida punched its ticket with a sweep of No. 7-seed Rice in an upset, and the Gators will play either No. 2 SMU or Central Arkansas.

It may set up a potential rematch with SMU, which Purdue beat 3-1 on a neutral court.

8:21 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball highlights vs Baylor

Aaron Ferguson

Limited highlights circulating, but here’s how it looked inside Holloway Gymnasium:

8:18 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball stats vs Baylor

Aaron Ferguson

Purdue’s offense was brilliant all night with a .405 clip and three hitters in double figures: Kenna Wollard, 18-3-34 (.441); Akasha Anderson, 17-4-36 (.361); and Lindsey Miller, 10-1-16 (.562). Taylor Anderson spread it around with 45 assists, adding seven digs, three blocks and a kill.

The Boilers block had a 12-5 edge over Baylor, led by Dior Charles (five) and Miller (four) in the middle. Charles added seven kills. And while Grace Heaney struggled swinging early on the right side, she was key in other areas with four blocks, three service aces and three digs to go with her four kills.

Baylor was held to hitting .250 for the match, and began settling in over the final two sets. It played five against Arkansas State on Thursday night, and struggled against Purdue’s block early, and compounded matters with 11 service errors. Though, Purdue had 13 service errors.

Victoria Davis was key with 13 kills (.458), but Baylor began spreading the attack out and used 13 players to wear down Purdue’s block through the middle part of the match.

8:10 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball score, result vs Baylor in NCAA tournament game today

Aaron Ferguson

Taylor Anderson with a solo block on a joust at the net for the four-set win, 25-16, 25-19, 23-25, 25-20. Impressive resolve in what wasn’t a perfect match for the Boilers to close out their Holloway Gymnasium portion of the schedule.

Purdue advances to the Sweet 16 for the third straight season, and fourth in five. An impressive feat for a team that lost 92.5% of its offensive production.

8:05 pm ET December 5, 2025

Coach Dave Shondell not happy with officiating in Purdue volleyball game

Aaron Ferguson

Coach Dave Shondell effectively yelled a variation of, “What are you doing,” as he challenged a potential touch on the last point. He was probably more upset over what appeared to be a possible carry. He lost the challenge as it goes out, thus making it 19-17 Purdue in the fourth set.

Shondell is out of challenges for the fourth set. He’ll get an extra should it go to a fifth set.

7:58 pm ET December 5, 2025

Score of Purdue volleyball game vs Baylor

Aaron Ferguson

The Bears have spread out their attack to keep Purdue’s block off balance. The Boilers have 10 blocks but none in the fourth set. They led 16-10 but Baylor is on a 4-0 run to force a Dave Shondell timeout.

7:53 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball score vs Baylor in NCAA tournament second round today

Aaron Ferguson

The Boilermakers have three straight points to take a 14-9 lead in the fourth set, leading 2-1. Baylor takes a timeout to try and halt matters. Purdue is hitting .538 in the set as Kenna Wollard (15), Akasha Anderson (15) and Lindsey Miller (10) all have at least 10 kills.

7:44 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball score vs Baylor tonight in NCAA tournament

Aaron Ferguson

Baylor takes the third set, 25-23, and trails Purdue 2-1 after three sets. The Bears hit .371 in the set and are led by Victoria Davis with 12 kills (.524).

Purdue hit .333, its worst of the match so far, in the set, and even with three service aces, it couldn’t overcome passing issues late in the set.

7:31 pm ET December 5, 2025

Baylor scoring run takes set lead against Purdue volleyball

Aaron Ferguson

That’s four straight points for the Bears, forcing Dave Shondell to take a timeout, as overpasses continue to be an issue for Purdue. Baylor challenged that setter Taylor Anderson went over the net and won. It’s 21-20 Bears, needing to keep their season alive in Set 3.

7:22 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball timeout needed as Baylor charges back

Aaron Ferguson

The Boilers take a timeout as their passing has taking a toll on this third set, seeing their lead trimmed to 17-15 after a pair of overpasses.

7:17 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball score vs Baylor tonight in NCAA tournament

Aaron Ferguson

The Boilers win the race to the media timeout, leading 15-10 at the break. They continue their hot hitting in the third set at .438. It’s been Baylor’s best set in efficiency so far at .263 but it also has three service errors.

7:13 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball score vs Baylor tonight in NCAA tournament

Aaron Ferguson

Sienna Foster checks in to serve for the Boilers, who lead 11-8 looking for a sweep in Set 3.

7:00 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball score tonight vs Baylor

Aaron Ferguson

Baylor had a nice 6-1 run to pull within 17-16, but seemingly ran out of steam. The Boilers take a 2-0 lead after a 25-19 edge in Set 2. The Boilers hit .452, and are at .466 for the match. They’re led by an errorless Kenna Wollard with 10 kills (.714). Purdue also has an 8-1 advantage in blocks.

After 70 swings in Thursday night’s five-set win, Baylor’s Ksenia Rakhmanchik has five kills on 19 swings and three errors (.105).

6:51 pm ET December 5, 2025

Baylor run forces Purdue volleyball timeout

Aaron Ferguson

How about three straight points for the Bears after trailing 16-9? Baylor has rolled through substitutions searching for answers and Brielle Warren hitting 2-0-3 with sister Bailey Warren at 6-3-14.

6:46 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball score vs Baylor

Aaron Ferguson

Defense has been the name of this second set. Purdue is out to a 15-7 lead, forcing a second Baylor timeout. The Bears have a sideout percentage of 53.8%. Purdue’s? Boilers are at 91.7%, meaning a lot of one-and-dones for Baylor’s offense, which is hitting .050 in the second set and .130 for the match.

6:39 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball score vs Baylor in NCAA tournament

Aaron Ferguson

After taking the first set, running away with it, Purdue kept running. Its out to a 9-3 lead in the first to force a Baylor timeout. The Bears are hitting minus-.111 with three errors and two kills on nine swings. Purdue is up to .625 to start the set.

6:29 pm ET December 5, 2025

Score of Purdue volleyball game today vs Baylor

Aaron Ferguson

Purdue takes the first set 25-16 after the Bears led 2-1, but then never settled in offensively. Purdue hit .481 and held the Bears to .176 — perhaps the five-setter last night catching up to Baylor. Just one error for the Boilers, who were led by Akasha Anderson’s five and Kenna Wollard’s four. It was a 5-1 blocking set for the Boilers, too.

6:23 pm ET December 5, 2025

Baylor coach has conversation with setter Harley Kreck

Harley Kreck directed an aggressive offense in a five-set win last night, but is getting encouragement from her coach as Baylor takes a timeout, trailing Purdue 19-13 in the first set.

6:20 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball run forces Baylor to take timeout

Aaron Ferguson

The Bears needed a timeout as Purdue scored twice more after the media timeout, a 3-0 run, despite Baylor hitting .409. It does have three service errors, though. It’s 17-12 Purdue.

6:18 pm ET December 5, 2025

Score of Purdue volleyball game vs Baylor in NCAA tournament today

Aaron Ferguson

Purdue wins the race to the media timeout, taking a 15-12 lead. It’s been an errorless set so far for Purdue, 9-0-13 (.692), with Kenna Wollard (three kills) and Lindsey Miller (two) perfect, and Akasha Anderson pacing the match with four kills (.800).

6:10 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball loses challenge in first set

Aaron Ferguson

Dave Shondell’s challenge failed, thus it is 8-5 Baylor and the Boilers have one fewer challenge for the night.

6:09 pm ET December 5, 2025

Purdue volleyball picks it up after slow start against Baylor

Aaron Ferguson

Baylor took an early lead, so early that this match was tied 3-3, and then the Boilers scored five of the next six points to take an 8-4 lead.

Coach Dave Shondell is challenging there was no touch and Baylor’s attack sailed out without help.

6:01 pm ET December 5, 2025

First serve on deck for Purdue volleyball vs Baylor in NCAA tournament

Aaron Ferguson

Starting lineups are wrapping up and the match will be underway in minutes.

5:45 pm ET December 5, 2025

Akasha Anderson comes up in clutch time for Purdue volleyball

Aaron Ferguson

Akasha Anderson transferred most recently from Michigan State, where she spent her lone postseason at home. After arriving in West Lafayette, “Kash” has earned her nickname as she showed Thursday night.

5:15 pm ET December 5, 2025

How Purdue volleyball advanced in NCAA tournament vs Wright State

Aaron Ferguson

The Boilermakers went out to a sweep in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Here’s a look back at how it happened:

5:00 pm ET December 5, 2025

Kenna Wollard leaves lasting impression on Purdue volleyball coach Dave Shondell

Aaron Ferguson

Sitting behind Chloe Chicoine and Eva Hudson, or standing opposite them on the court, was Kenna Wollard. An AVCA player of the year semifinalist, she has clearly restored hope into coach Dave Shondell as he was emotional in talking about her earlier this season.

4:45 pm ET December 5, 2025

How Grace Heaney developed into Purdue volleyball’s efficient hitter

Aaron Ferguson

A native of Nebraska, Grace Heaney stuck with Purdue even through injuries. The redshirt sophomore has been incredibly efficient this season. Here’s more from earlier in the year:

4:30 pm ET December 5, 2025

How transfers found their way into Purdue volleyball culture

Aaron Ferguson

The Monon Spike match was a test of sorts for Akasha Anderson, Dior Charles and several other Purdue transfers. It’s a rivalry, in coach Dave Shondell’s eyes, and allowed a pair of newcomers to see his competitive side. Here’s what it meant to them:

4:15 pm ET December 5, 2025

Dave Shondell considered retirement but Purdue volleyball reenergized him

Aaron Ferguson

Dave Shondell spoke candidly about the transfers of Chloe Chicoine and Eva Hudson, to the point he was considering retiring as the new age of player empowerment and movement hit his program — hit Purdue. So what did this season’s team leave as an impression on him? It’s in their motto, “Ever grateful,” he said.

From my exclusive conversations with the 67-year-old Shondell:

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Sports

Live updates, how to watch

Published

26 minutes ago

December 6, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The Longhorns celebrate after winning the game against Florida A&M during the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025.

Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman

Texas volleyball, with its first No. 1 seed in three years, began what coach Jerritt Elliott hopes is a three-week journey through the NCAA Tournament Friday with a resounding sweep over Florida A&M Friday at Gregory Gymnasium.

But the competition will significantly stiffen Saturday when the Longhorns (23-3) face defending national champion Penn State in a second-round meeting. The eighth-seeded Nittany Lions (19-12), which beat South Florida 3-1 in the first game Friday at Gregory Gymnasium, have endured a rocky season that included the September departure of All-American setter Izzy Starck because of mental heath concerns.