How much do you pay for kids' hockey?

[daandcb]

Let's see.....for my oldest who is a Mite C (goalie), we paid $660 ($50 credit for being a goalie). For my middle son (instructional/jr house) we paid $340. Seeing this will be our first year with the travel, I am not sure if we will have more to pay for tournaments. We have lucked out for the most part with the equipment and found a great place that has a warehouse type of sale once a year so we try to get it all then and what we bought last year will work again this year. Of course last year after we bought my oldest his gear he decided to be a goalie so we had to buy that too....okay we didn't have to but seeing his daddy is a goalie....well dad was proud and loved shopping for little goalie gear. lol

 

[endy]

I just want to share that my High School son has decided not to play this year When figuring out this years budget, we put $600 a month in the hockey fund. This covered last years fees, tournaments, goalie equipment ($2600, and that was only replacing key items), jerseys. That doesn't include gas, meals eaten out....

Let's just say that our Christmas trip to Disney this year just got much more fun, and the kids college funds have taken a great leap! I'm still unsure of what I'm going to do with all of my extra time between football and baseball seasons

Ouch. $600/month. No wonder you're so excited.
OMG I'd never be able to afford that. You guys are making my scared as what I'm getting into.
I loved last year with him playing on the rec team, twice a week, no extra costs. And DS plays roller hockey for late April to end June. Love it too for the same reasons.
Right now his goalie evaluations are over but he still plays with player evaluations 3 or 4 more times. Not even sure when they'll tell us what team he makes.
I think a kid on his team last year took hockey in school and it was $1000 for the year. Then the kid still played leaque and did a couple camps in the summer and Xmas.
On the goalie only night there were kids talking about which summer camps they attended. Most run close to $500/week. Makes me feel bad that my kid (and a lot others) are at a disadvantage by not going to camp.
Oh well like a previous poster said "it's cheaper than rehab"

 

[disneynuts777]

DD12 will play on two teams this year. This puts her on the ice 4x a week. 3 tounaments for each team. 20 practices and 20 games per team. Registration was $480 per team plus equipment. Travel expenses are extra. Hockey camp for 2weeks each summer is $750+. I have budgeted $4000 for the upcoming year. I am hoping gas prices do not rise any further or it could be more

 

[brymolmom]

WOW - I have opted out of starting ds6 in ice hockey due to the $$. Can I ask how you guys decided to start it? Did you wait until your kids were totally in love with it and begged for it? I just don't see how I can get him into it when he is just as happy doing soccer or gymnastics or floor hockey right now and those are basically nothing comparatively. Now, if he was really begging for it and totally into it - I would consider it.

The reasons I'm sad are that I think it is a sport he might take to - he seems pretty coordinated on skates and did enjoy floor hockey last year. And, I come from a hockey family. We had ice rinks in our back yard all my early years and I learned how to skate as I learned how to walk. My brothers would put me in goal all bundled up in my winter coat and snow pants and I would stand there with my stick.

SO....right now I do not have him registered. We will try floor hockey again and see what happens.

How did you decide to make that kind of commitment over some of the other less-expensive extra-curricular activities?

 

[disneynuts777]

DD12 asked to play when she was 7. What started out as a $700 house league team a season has ballooned into the $$$$ it is today. She loves it and is really good. She played co-ed until last year when she moved over to the all girls league.(The boys got really big!!!) As long as she is having fun and enjoying it I will keep scraping up the money. When it becomes a chore then we will have to rethink where the $$$ go. I would never have pushed this on her as sitting in a rink at 6a.m on a saturday morning is not my idea of a fun time

 

[buzz5985]

DS 11 plays PeeWee - Town league. We pay $1295, $30 USA Hockey fee, $100 raffle, Covers 1 practice, 1 skills, and usually 2 - 3 games per week, one dress shirt. Equipment is extra - pads, skates, helmets, under armour. Just bought DS a new set of under armour - $80. This is just the long underwear!! The "garters" that hold up the socks - the kind with the cup built in - $40. New skates - lucked out bought last years style - $129, new stick - same thing - last years style - $89. Didn't need any new pads, etc.

He also plays soccer $90, lacrosse $90 and baseball $125. Lacrosse equpment is also very expensive. Helmets run around $150.

Janis

 

[minmate]

Hockey is super expensive here too. Just for the youngest youth league (my ds is 7) it would cost $485, plus annual rink fees, plus $200 fundraising fee (you get back if you fundraise that amount), plus $250 service fee (you get back if you volunteer certain number of hours). Plus equipment fees. As they get older the fees go up and they have to pay to use the locker rooms in high school... etc. etc. That doesn't include playing the other two 'seasons' it's offered or going to all the charity events and clinics they offer - which to be competitive here you have to do.
With four kids, we simply got priced out of hockey as an option. However, if it was the ONLY thing my ds wanted to do I'd do it but with football, basketball, swimming, baseball, gymnastics, etc.... it's just too costly.