Hawkaholic
Registered User
I believe basketball took over as the most popular sport among youths this past year. I can't speak for other cities or towns in Canada, but I would imagine the asme trend would apply there as in my old town.
The programs are kind of dumb, and I would not qualify. You have to make less than 37k a year to qualify with a family of 4. I make 52k, my wife is a stay at home mom, and we barely get by with a house and a newer vehicle. Hockey is the last thing on my to do list for my kids, as it would cost a thousand dollars just to see him flop around on the ice his first year. I'm not worried about costs in the early years, more about the costs when he likes it, potentially gets good at it, and it costs an arm and a leg that I can't afford.
Not in Canada. Baseball is really cheap to sign up for, half the cost of hockey. You don't need to buy a bat, just a glove (max 50$), and some cleats ($50). You drive around, but not too far, 50km radius. Basketball is even cheaper than that, as is soccer. Even golf was cheaper, my boss and his son play all the time, and his son is starting to get competitve with it, he said it was cheaper for him to golf than to play hockey last year, and his son isn't really at that high of a level in hockey.
I understand you can buy used, and that's what I would do. But what do I tell him when he potentially becomes a really good hockey player and Dad can't afford to put him in hockey anymore, so he has to play with all the bums in house league.
Yeah, I'm just letting my son gravitate towards what he wants to do, with a little bit of guidance. I am thinking about guitar lessons, drum lessons, karate, and maybe baseball in the summer just because he seems to really like it more than any other sport.
