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Old 02-05-2013, 12:59 PM   #1
Northendzone
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I hope that it is accpetable to start this thread in the FOI.....

I am sometimes stunned at the lack of discussion with respect to Minor Hockey on here (perhaps there are only a few of us with kids playing right now).

anywyas, I came across this somewhat interesting article about the cost of spring hockey - can't say much in the article was surprising other than perhaps the length's that some folks go to to make elite hockey happen for their 10 yr old:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/amateur/spring-fever-189487451.html
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Old 02-05-2013, 01:55 PM   #2
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I can only imagine what its going to be like when I have kids who are that age. Better start working a second job now so I can save up for Spring hockey. $20,000.. yowzers
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Old 02-05-2013, 02:17 PM   #3
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i guy i coached with last year had oput two of his boys through the Calgary Buffaloes organization at a cost of probably $25,000. one of his boys was drafted intot he dub, so perhaps he gets the moeny back in the form of a scholarship.......

i find this subject most interesting as my son is 10 and a goalie. Just this year, we bought new skates (because he was having trouble with the used ones I bought him), he rec'd new pads for christmas plus he has going to GDI lately to train - plus he had three different summer hockey things.

I'd estimate our investment in his season so far as $2,600 or so.......
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Old 02-05-2013, 02:20 PM   #4
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The landscape has changed so dramatically over the last 20 years. I have two boys in spring hockey and they absolutely love competing with "the best of the best". They still play other sports but both of them have a huge passion for the game and this is where they want to go with it. As a parent, its pretty tough to curb a kid's passion - regardless of what that passion is.

With that being said, it was incredible to me to have a scout with an 8 page contract waiting outside the locker room one day for my son...when he was 7! Ridiculous.
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Old 02-05-2013, 02:52 PM   #5
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The reason why its popular it works, insofar as increasing the chances of getting a pro-player at the end of the day.
We were told at an entry meeting that 1 out 100,000 kids playing minor hockey in Calgary, will play in the NHL.
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Old 02-05-2013, 03:05 PM   #6
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i dream of my son getting to be the best he can be and hopefully one day playing in a "meaningful game" (i.e The Macs).

If he ever got good enough to get a free education from hockey, that would be beyond my wildest dreams......
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Old 02-05-2013, 03:15 PM   #7
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Kids get burned out. So much detailed and regimented "recreation " time.

Kids do not learn how to be imaginative and intuitive athletes...never mind hockey players by being instructed year round.

Kinda sad that some...and I am not saying many...seem to want to live vicariously through their kids.

Let them be kids.
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Old 02-05-2013, 03:15 PM   #8
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This has been going on for years with basketball, the AAU summer circuit is where elite talent is cultivated and recruited from. High School teams are just a place for those talents to dominate between AAU seasons.

I don't see a problem with it in general, although I'm sure there are parents involved that don't have their children's best interests in mind they are likely in the minority. This lets elite talent compete with and grow with other elite talent, it's no different than sending kids to a top prep school. Most of these kids won't play in the NHL, or professionally anywhere, but there are plenty of other doors that can be opened through hockey, including education.
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Old 02-05-2013, 03:19 PM   #9
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I have seen alot of this over me sons age(1st year bantam)

The 9 year old skating circles around everyone usually loses steps as the other kids grow and body checking is added.

I have a friend who's 14 year old boy is done playing hockey for possibly life because of concussions. All it takes is one dirty hit or one rut to blow a knee and the career is over.

I have seen kids get burnt out from hockey, hockey, hockey and fall off the wayside after finding booze and drugs once they are teenagers.

I think the 1 in 100,000 is actually a bigger number.

Once kids are close to Junior age summer hockey might be a little more acceptable but there is nothing wrong with playing baseball, golf or soccer in the summer.

Instead of sinking all that money into spring hockey one could get a pretty good nest egg going for university or college.
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Old 02-05-2013, 03:25 PM   #10
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I played Foothils Elite in Novice and never had any concept of what the costs were for my parents. I'll have to ask. Totally voluntary on my part and had a great time meeting kids from all parts of Calgary. Grew up in Edgemont and did practices in Airdrie which at the time seemed far balls.
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Old 02-05-2013, 03:31 PM   #11
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I played Foothils Elite in Novice and never had any concept of what the costs were for my parents. I'll have to ask. Totally voluntary on my part and had a great time meeting kids from all parts of Calgary. Grew up in Edgemont and did practices in Airdrie which at the time seemed far balls.
If you ask an Airdrie resident they will confirm that it is only a 15 minute commute
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Old 02-05-2013, 03:31 PM   #12
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I have seen alot of this over me sons age(1st year bantam)

The 9 year old skating circles around everyone usually loses steps as the other kids grow and body checking is added.

I have a friend who's 14 year old boy is done playing hockey for possibly life because of concussions. All it takes is one dirty hit or one rut to blow a knee and the career is over.

I have seen kids get burnt out from hockey, hockey, hockey and fall off the wayside after finding booze and drugs once they are teenagers.

I think the 1 in 100,000 is actually a bigger number.

Once kids are close to Junior age summer hockey might be a little more acceptable but there is nothing wrong with playing baseball, golf or soccer in the summer.

Instead of sinking all that money into spring hockey one could get a pretty good nest egg going for university or college.
you assume these are mutually exclusive. If you can afford spring hockey, you can afford tuition.
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Old 02-05-2013, 03:47 PM   #13
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Thats possibly because of the weak Calgary spring hockey teams. Reading that article and seeing all the teams in Winnipeg and how crazy it is, then you see the list of players that have just graduated from it....

In Calgary there are only a couple outfits.
Havoc Hockey
Foothills
NSD
??
Calgary Rigger's
Southern Alberta Selects
Top Guns
Coyote's (Spartan Development)
Edge School has spring hockey teams
Not including the one off's that have usually split from other programs

I'm hearing that Hockey Alberta is going to start some sort of Spring Development program that would culminate in a Tournament at the end.

As spring hockey gets watered down with too many teams I wouldn't be surprised to eventually see some elite programs start club teams that would see these kids out of the Minor Hockey Association stream altogether.
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Old 02-05-2013, 03:49 PM   #14
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I do not think there is anywhere near 100,000 kids in minor hockey in Calgary. I think the number is a fraction of that - 13,000 is a number I've heard

I would think the 1 in 100,000 comment was simply managing parents' expectations
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Old 02-05-2013, 03:53 PM   #15
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I had some outfit out of Airdrie waiting to see my kid when he was 6 trying to get him to play on their team but no contract.

I think parents try to downplay their role in it with the passion for the game thing. My kid cannot get enough hockey, will play a game in the morning, shinny in the afternoon and then stickhandle around the living room for two hours in the same day. But he also has a passion for eating candy, but I don't let him indulge in that one.

I don't think any kid in spring hockey isn't in it without a bit of that glint in the parents eye of a potential hockey future. The parent is getting something out of it the same way as those people who do the showdog thing.
And I don't think there's anything the matter with a kid following his passion nor with the parents getting joy out of watching their kids do something that they love. The problem comes with parents that take things to the extreme and where it's not in the kid's best interest. But to generalize and make the whole scene into some kind of a negative is misguided and wrong.
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Old 02-05-2013, 03:55 PM   #16
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you assume these are mutually exclusive. If you can afford spring hockey, you can afford tuition.

I have seen people remortgage their house, lines of credit and credit cards just to pay for the extras.

On a team of 18 kids their aren't 18 Craig Heisinger's as dads. As the article says about the single mom of 3.
"Basically, we just save everything we can and everything goes toward hockey," says Wiltshire, who has three younger children who will soon be strapping on blades. "Our whole life is hockey. It's at the point where if you want to stay in the more elite level teams, you have to do the extra stuff."
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Old 02-05-2013, 03:59 PM   #17
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Just finished reading a great new book on the topic by Ken Campbell (from the Hockey News). An eye opener for sure....

http://www.penguin.ca/nf/Book/BookDi...065738,00.html
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Old 02-05-2013, 04:02 PM   #18
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I was a bit shocked to hear from my neighbour that his kid's age group (age 6) was already being separated into "elite" level kids and "everyone else". Most of those kids are still learning to skate, let alone be considered elite anything.

There is a chapter in the book "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell devoted to hockey development. Bottom line is that unless your child happens to be born between January and about March, their chances of making it to the elite level drop dramatically.

A recent article in the National Post:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01...-into-the-nhl/
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Old 02-05-2013, 04:15 PM   #19
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The first year my kid registered for hockey in Calgary it cost $20. They played that year on outdoor rinks. I think it hit about $500 when he played Bantam AA, at the time the highest level in Calgary. He never made it past minor pro but he's still playing hockey, coaching his daughter's team and it's a part of his social life, so I figure it was just a part of being a parent, to get him involved. I don't know how I'd handle the new needs for being competitive.
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Old 02-05-2013, 04:28 PM   #20
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Quote:
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I do not think there is anywhere near 100,000 kids in minor hockey in Calgary. I think the number is a fraction of that - 13,000 is a number I've heard

I would think the 1 in 100,000 comment was simply managing parents' expectations
I think it's even lower than that. I remember hearing 1 in 800 for Saskatchewan minor hockey players. Calgary is probably around 1 in a thousand.
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