Alright, skydiving superstars, let’s talk MONEY and team training. Budgeting sets your team up for success. Knowing your financial limits will help you find compatible teammates, negotiate training plans, and avoid any nasty surprises.

Think about your budget before looking for teammates

One of the most important things to consider when building a team is aligning financial expectations. If you know how much you want to spend, you can negotiate with potential teammates on how best to apply those funds—whether that’s tunnel time, jumps, video, coaching, or something else. For a comprehensive guide to setting up your season and aligning these expectations, check out The Complete Guide to Setting Up Your Team’s Season.

Figuring It Out

Check out the Fury Coaching Season calculator. It will help you estimate your expenses for different season scenarios. Enter the costs you know (slots, pack jobs, video, coaching) and the season you would like (jumps, tunnel, meets) to get an approximate cost. It handles any size team, with and without player coaching options. If you’re unsure about how much tunnel time your team needs, you might find How Much Tunnel Should My Team Do? particularly helpful, as it discusses how to balance tunnel sessions with jumps and budget.

Fast Guidelines: Player coaching is 33% more for 4way, 12.5% more for 8way. Typical recommendation is 1 hour tunnel per 10 jumps. Reduce total jumps by 75% to account for weather, illness, and other blockers.

Common Scenarios (2025)
If you are looking for rough estimates, here are some common team scenarios and costs, based on common current SoCal costs in Sep 2024:

Budget Ranges:

• 4-way (by season)
  75 jumps, 5 hours of tunnel, 6 jumps/day pace, no player-coach, no Nationals, local meets: $5,000 – $7,500
  100 jumps, 10 hours of tunnel, 8 jumps/day pace, no player-coach, Nationals, local meets: $10,400 – $12,500
  100 jumps, 10 hours of tunnel, 8 jumps/day pace, player-coach, Nationals, local meets: $16,400 – $17,200
• 4-way (by month, no weather reduction)
  16 jumps, no tunnel, 8 jumps/day pace, no player-coach: $760 – $1,100
  16 jumps, 0.75 hours of tunnel, 8 jumps/day pace, no player-coach: $934 – $1,278
• 8-way (by season)
  100 jumps, no tunnel, 6 jumps/day pace, no player-coach, Nationals, local meet: $5,200 – $6,500
  100 jumps, 2 hours of tunnel, 8 jumps/day pace, player-coach, Nationals, local meet: $7,000 – $8,300

Pro Tip: Talk in Terms of Money, Not Jumps

Let’s consider two skydivers, both aiming for 200 jumps:
Person A wants 200 jumps, plus 20 hours of tunnel time, with video, coaching, packing, Nationals, and extra days for weather.
Person B wants 200 jumps, maximum, without tunnel, on 40-minute calls, using GoPro video, and no competitions.
Neither approach is wrong—they just require different budgets and expectations. For practical advice on improving without breaking the bank, check out How to Get Good on a Budget, which provides tips on efficiently using resources like tunnel time and coaching.

Conclusion

To wrap up, budgeting will help you find and run a compatible team. When everyone is aligned, you can channel your energy into achieving your skydiving goals, not arguing or worrying about finances. So, get to running those numbers!

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