It’s August, which means most diehard hockey players are getting the itch to hit the ice again, and goalie parents are saying a quiet prayer — or several — that their little puckstoppers didn’t grow a foot or several shoe sizes over the summer. Because there’s nothing quite as sobering as having a goalie who needs a new set of gear.
So this column is for the parents and, to a lesser degree, youth hockey organizations. Hockey is expensive. Goaltending is crazy expensive. These are realities for most players and their parents. I completely sympathize with you. And empathize. My daughter Brynne just finished her high school hockey career last year, and it’s no small stretch to say that the money my wife and I saved is helping put a dent in her college tuition (fortunately for us, St. Lawrence’s club hockey program is laid back and a lot less expensive). And Brynne was a defenseman, not a goaltender.
Still, there are similarities. Even a positional player can run up quite a tab. First, there’s the cost of the summer and fall leagues, and in most cases, a user fee for high school teams (though I’m skeptical how one co-op program cost $1,650, but when our school district switched coops the price dropped to $325).