Maybe my story will help you decide. Before I began shooting sports I already had a casual interest in photography. I shot mostly landscapes and the occasional candid portrait of my kids playing in the backyard, stuff like that. But when my kids started playing organized sports I wanted to photograph them doing that too and I found that my old camera really wasn’t up to the task. So, I went shopping at my local camera store where the salesman suggested I start off with a “DSLR”. I came home that day with a Canon 50D kit which included two zoom lenses. At my kids’ games I was now known as “the dad with the nice camera”. I enjoyed photographing the games and sharing the photos online and it felt great when I parent would complement me and thank me for my efforts.
I quickly learned that to get results that looked like those I was seeing in sports magazines I needed to invest more in my gear. Which brings me to something that I believe is specific to the genre of sports photography. I frequently hear from others “it’s not the camera that matters, it’s the photographer behind it” and while that is mostly true, don’t be fooled, sports is likely the one genera of photography where gear REALLY DOES matter.
If you want photos like the ones here on my site you need to invest in “pro” or “prosumer” level gear. You can get started with a new camera and lens that meet those specs for around $4500, with about half of that going to a lens. If you are willing to consider used gear you can get started for less, maybe half of that . Or you could spend a great deal more, my favorite lens for field sports is a 300mm f/2.8 prime. It’s a big chunk of “glass” and new versions of that lens sell for over $6000 with used ones a few generations old still going for around $3000 or so. So as is the case with most hobbies, it will cost you. For me, it's worth it. And going semi-pro, charging for my work, has allowed me to invest in nicer gear than I would otherwise have been able to justify .
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