Photo Essay

 Families Cannot Afford Hockey

    I am lucky enough to have always felt welcomed by the hockey community, but that is not true for everyone. My parents always had the money to pay for the expensive gear that I constantly outgrew or broke, that is not the case for most others. To combat this, NHL teams have built programs for low income families, but that can only do so much. One program, such as this, cannot help the entire state. This means so much time because I want kids to experience the sport of hockey like I did. I want kids to be able to smile like I am in that picture and enjoy the sport while not having to worry about things outside of the rink. I was lucky enough to only have to worry about things like making the team, making it on time to practice, or trying to get better. I did not have to worry about paying for it, or after an unexpected break having a ride home, or being able to afford new gear if something breaks unexpectedly. I want everyone to have the same opportunities that were granted to me. Seeing the USA hockey registration numbers for players, and even coaches and referees, plummet breaks my heart. This may be a result of covid hurting communities around the world, especially financially, but that only highlights hockey’s biggest issue. Families are deciding that hockey is not worth it because of its overbearing cost. 

When it comes to hockey’s biggest barrier of entry, the expenses, it is astronomical how expensive it is to play for a park district league while also paying for the long list of equipment. This list of every piece of equipment required to play speaks loudly of the colossal costs: jock or jill, shin guards, hockey socks, hockey pants, chest protector, elbow pads, hockey jersey, gloves, helmet, and skates. In order to pay for your first set of new gear it costs around $1000, and that is if you buy lower end equipment. This poses a difficult question, is it possible to decrease the high cost of equipment due to the many required pieces? I think it is. Like all businesses, companies are there to make money, but I think they should take it upon themselves to either charge less for equipment, or create nationwide, cost-decreasing programs for low income families. However, that doesn’t cover the steep yearly fees. With the cost of playing park district, to begin playing costs around $2000 including equipment. You can buy used equipment, but it is ridiculous that that is the best alternative. To play travel hockey or even high school, the costs shoot up to $6,000-7,000. High level travel teams can cost up to $10,000 a year. That does not even cover travel expenses which can be another few thousand a year. I am lucky enough to have had very nice equipment and been able to play expensive high school hockey. My gear totals out to around $2000 and each year my parents had to pay around $6000 in fees. All of these costs do not include injuries, and the all-too-common breaking or outgrowing equipment. From the summer of 2020 to the end of may of 2021, I broke 8 sticks which were a couple hundred dollars each. How is a lower income family supposed to afford to pay for all of these expenses? How does a parent explain to their young kid that they can’t afford to pay for the sport he/she desperately wants to play? As an eighteen year old young adult I don’t have the solution to this problem. However, why aren’t people talking about this? My home state NHL team, the Chicago Blackhawks, do a lot for low income families in Chicago, but their “learn to play” program is only for kids who want to learn how to play hockey.  You can find more information about this at this link: https://www.learntoplay.nhl.com/locations/blackhawks/. Unfortunately, one team in one large city can only do so much. Due to lack of help, families are determining hockey is not worth the price. 

This is very evident in the big decline in the USA Hockey registration statistics. USA Hockey’s numbers were steadily growing from 1991 through the 2018-2019 season. In 2019-2020, the numbers fell by about 7 thousand players, but the number of coaches increased by about a thousand and the number of referees stayed about the same. This past year the numbers in all three categories plummeted. I want to focus on just the player numbers, which dropped by over a hundred thousand. This might be a result of covid shutting down leagues across the country, but I’m not convinced. The number was still in decline before covid exploded across the country in early 2020. I believe the numbers were heavily affected by covid, but will families return to the game after the economy took a huge hit?  Will families still think it is worth the money? I believe many will decide to move on to other, less expensive sports. Roy Maccregor reinforced this point as in 2012 as he talked about Canada suffering the same issues we’re seeing in the US today, “for the parents, it's about divvying up limited disposable income to pay for a child's game that too many are deciding just isn't worth it” (Maccregor). I understand this quote is talking about Canada, but it still applies to the US, hockey in the United States is suffering from the same issue. I don’t know when USA Hockey will release their registration statistics for this year, but I genuinely dread seeing the numbers. I am scared because I want to see the game grow, not be hurt because families can’t afford it. I want covid to give people inspiration to play the game, not run from it.

I want everyone to have the chance to experience and learn what I did from the game. I went through the lowest of lows and highest of highs when it comes to hockey. I have gotten cut from teams, and made the best teams.I have met bad people, and my best friends for the rest of my life. I have been a practice player, and scored in the varsity finals. I have lost many championships, but won a few as well. Look how happy my team and I are in that picture. I want every kid in America to dream about holding a trophy like that one day. I understand experiences like these can be found elsewhere, but everyone should be able to have them in hockey. Hockey has made a huge impact on who I am today, and I believe everyone should get to feel that impact. 

Works Cited

MacGregor, Roy. “Increasingly High Cost of Hockey Is Making the Game an Elitist Sport.” The 

Globe and Mail, 1 Dec. 2012, 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/increasingly-high-cost-of-hockey-is-making-the-game-an-elitist-sport/ article5864491/. 

Membership Statistics, https://www.usahockey.com/membershipstats. 

Arifi, Ibrahim. “Is Hockey Becoming Too Expensive for UpcomingHockey Player?” Meidum, Medium, 5 May 2019, https://medium.com/@iarifi/is-hockey-becoming-too-expensive-for-upcominghockey-player-4242d4bea193. 

“Blackhawks - Learn to Play Hockey.” NHL, 3 Mar. 2021, https://www.learntoplay.nhl.com/locations/blackhawks/. 

Photo 2: Buss, Catherine. 20 February. 2009.

Photo 3: Buss, Catherine. 10 January. 2010.

Photo 3: Peebles, Jamie. Benet Hockey Photos. 15 May. 2021. 

https://photos.benethockey.com/Previous-Years/Fall-20-21/Varsity/Kennedy-Cup-Game-

3/i-5VZMT7W/