I didn't state that it was reasonable but a lot of parents do care. Something on the order of 2% of entering US college freshmen receive at least a partial athletic scholarship at NCAA D1/D2 schools. This can be a major cost savings, plus it allows them to bypass the normal application process. We can argue about whether colleges should give athletic scholarships at all but that's how the system works.

I agree that sports should be accessible to kids of all income levels. And that's true to an extent for certain sports. But the cheaper options of playing on public school or community center teams will only take you so far. The better coaches and higher levels of competition necessary to develop real mastery are often only available in expensive private clubs and academies.

Was reading today that to become an Olympic big air athlete the estimated costs is 200K to 600k USD excluding major injuries.

Because when people sign up kids for sports, the thing they want them to learn the most is competitiveness and hard training. Everything else is basically perceived as being lazy. As a culture, we tend to turn evrything into grand moralization and duty.

So, consequently, sports club that is not trying to win is seen as lazy and bunch of loosers. And quite openly.

There's a huge range depending on the sport and level of commitment. At the top level of youth tennis some families spend $100K per year for coaching, travel, equipment, etc. For rowing we paid something like $13K per year, including trips to National level regattas. Other sports could be cheaper.