Many families look at youth hockey as a great option to keep their kids active. Until now. Between registration fees and the price of equipment, this hobby is a year-round investment that’s becoming a financial burden.
For parents, the rising cost of hockey for their children is starting to get too high.
James Belford, a parent whose 15-year old son has played multiple levels of hockey, said, “Rep hockey is becoming very expensive. For even the lowest level, they want close to $10,000 on top of registration fees, just to play on these teams.”
Belford said equipment is the area he’s seen the highest increase in. “Skates cost more. Sticks cost more. Everything is $100 plus. For a low to mid-level stick, you need to spend at least $100 for something decent.”
Emerge surveyed 13 former youth hockey players, and asked them a series of questions based on cost and equipment prices.
One question was to rate how expensive hockey equipment is in relation to other youth sports equipment. The results read that 69.2 per cent thought that hockey equipment was much more expensive compared to any other sport.
The people polled were also asked one thing that they would change about the cost of hockey. The most common response was dropping the cost of ice rentals. Belford touched on this while commenting on something he’d change. “Nowadays with the economic climate and how much everything costs … I work in a hockey rink. I know how much it costs. You can’t change the way that a municipality bills for ice. Running a hockey tournament for example, can cost you upwards of $25,000 just in ice alone.”
Bryce Moore, a former Brampton and Toronto goaltender, was asked about his thoughts of the prices of goalie equipment specifically, and how people can afford goaltending equipment at its premium price.
“It’s the most expensive piece of gear in hockey… people can only really afford it if they’re upper-middle class, doing well, and whatever the parents are willing to spend… I think that’s a really big issue, with these other sports where people can play the sport they love… for hockey, how people afford it is just by circumstance, and it’s really sad to see.”
Moore was also asked about the new technology in goalie gear, and if the price justifies what players get out of the equipment.
“The economy we are in, where we are as a sport, is not justifiable. These prices cannot be these prices if they want to grow the sport. Simple as that. I know first hand how expensive these pro models can be. I’ve gotten pads that were $1000… I’m lucky enough to afford it, but why are they so high that not everybody can afford it? There needs to be stuff that is lower priced, and still a really high quality, and it’s really bad that they’re this highly priced.”
One way to combat this rising cost is to purchase second hand equipment. Play It Again Sports manager Kristy Houghton highlighted the cost difference, saying, “Generally you will save about 50 per cent, so usually our retail cost on items, when they’re in good condition, is about half of what it would cost new.”