I think a lot of people in this thread are confused. High level hockey is absurdly expensive where many kids do miss out on it, or the parents have to make drastic sacrifices. Wayne Simmonds family used to hold regular garage sales to fund his minor hockey. With that said, lower level hockey like midget a or b. Ya those prices are so nuts.
Would Walter Gretzky, as a member the working class, will be able to afford hockey today?
- Thread starter sawchuk1971
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leafsfan5
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- Jun 14, 2014
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Doesn't come off douchey at all you're good. I'm still in school so moving isn't an option at the moment. I'd love to stay close to my family (my parents got a house here before the market exploded) so that's why I'd want to live here but you are right and when I finish school I'll be looking for jobs in a more affordable area. The only problem is the soaring housing market is unfortunately expanding so I may be going far or into another country entirely.
Sorry if I came off as a bit of a dick in my reply to you. Budgeting is a line I hear a lot and it's just not a feasible solution where I live (GTA in Ontario). Most homes that were 300-400K a decade ago are now worth 800K-1 million. Being able to afford a family on a normal wage seems hard, things like elite level hockey on-top of that look impossible. It's why many of my peers gravitated towards high level basketball/soccer instead.
Gaylord Q Tinkledink
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Well, he would likely be a telephone line repairman.
In Ottawa Bell has a company that works for them, but isn't a part of their company if I remember correctly called Bell Technical Solutions.
You start off just above minimum wage. However, you get a dollar raise basically every 6 months, so 2 dollar raise a year.
Assuming he goes into that profession shortly after getting out of high school, but the time he's 29, assuming he started there at 18 and had Wayne at 25, he would be averaging over 30 dollars an hour working your 7 - 4 type job as he would have seniority to get that by thar point and likely able to get some ot. Even though Ottawa is fairly expensive (housing prices have raised over 100,000 dollars in the past year if I'm not mistaken) he would likely be able to still afford a place and put Wayne in hockey. His wife would also be working. Not sure if she did in the real timeline.
In short, he would likely just be able to.
In Ottawa Bell has a company that works for them, but isn't a part of their company if I remember correctly called Bell Technical Solutions.
You start off just above minimum wage. However, you get a dollar raise basically every 6 months, so 2 dollar raise a year.
Assuming he goes into that profession shortly after getting out of high school, but the time he's 29, assuming he started there at 18 and had Wayne at 25, he would be averaging over 30 dollars an hour working your 7 - 4 type job as he would have seniority to get that by thar point and likely able to get some ot. Even though Ottawa is fairly expensive (housing prices have raised over 100,000 dollars in the past year if I'm not mistaken) he would likely be able to still afford a place and put Wayne in hockey. His wife would also be working. Not sure if she did in the real timeline.
In short, he would likely just be able to.
freakydallas13
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The amount of "budgets and bootstraps" responses I'm seeing here makes me wonder how out of touch some of you are.
Of course hockey being expensive means it excludes people. It's not even an after thought for many familys, because things like rent and food aren't even taken care of.
Of course hockey being expensive means it excludes people. It's not even an after thought for many familys, because things like rent and food aren't even taken care of.
I grew up in Canada but live in the US and have been pretty heavily involved with youth hockey here for the last 15 years.
It is very expensive just to play regular hockey here (East coast). The registration fees, travel fees, equipment is a big expense - especially with multiple kids playing. But to be a top player, in AAA leagues, camps etc. it is easily $15K a year - I have seen families spend $30K, $40K a year. You would have a hard time finding an American NHL'er in his 20's that did not come from a wealthy family.
It is very expensive just to play regular hockey here (East coast). The registration fees, travel fees, equipment is a big expense - especially with multiple kids playing. But to be a top player, in AAA leagues, camps etc. it is easily $15K a year - I have seen families spend $30K, $40K a year. You would have a hard time finding an American NHL'er in his 20's that did not come from a wealthy family.
sawchuk1971
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sawchuk1971
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what happens if your child did not have a backyard rink?
Vukotal Recall
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Just jumping in here in case no one else in the thread has taken the opportunity to point out how shallow, patronizing and misguided your comment is.
Same here, played soccer/volleyball at pretty high levels, but not elite until I was in my early 20s. Each cost more or less 500/year. The equivalent level in hockey would've cost that in hockey sticks alone.
SomeDude
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Part of budgeting is not living in an area you can’t afford. Sorry I hurt your feelings.
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SomeDude
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The lack of wage increases in a lot of areas is borderline criminal. That’s the downside of a free market... if people are willing to do work at unlivable compensation, there is no need for the companies to increase wages. It’s a very hard cycle to break. Unfortunately, I found the best way to escape that rat race was just moving to a more affordable area.
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freakydallas13
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It's also not playing sports you can't afford.
leafsfan5
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I wouldn't say that's the people's fault though specifically. Most of these individuals need to work to support themselves or their families, they don't have a choice.
HFBS
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Maybe some of you recognize this guy. He grew up dirt poor in Egypt and had to travel 5 hours a day at age 14 to play soccer. He's now one of the best players in the world.
There is a kid who plays for my hometown high school hockey team in NH that started playing around 9 and, coming up through just the local system, actually made the USNTDP camp in Lake Placid for 15 year olds. I saw he comes from one of the least affluent towns in the region. His eliteprospects page shows just one season of AAA 16U where he was a star and the US camp stats. Apparently he just went back to playing D2 public high school hockey and finished it out.
I looked at a AAA schedule and it looks like an NHL schedule. Florida one weekend, New Jersey the next, Buffalo the week after that. It's ridiculous. Its almost like a screening mechanism by affluent people to keep more talented poor people out of the sport. In the town the kid I mentioned comes from, probably half the people have taken a plane flight in their lives. There is no reason for any of this. No one in central New England needs to drive more than 50 miles for even competition. Why are teams traveling the country.
I looked at a AAA schedule and it looks like an NHL schedule. Florida one weekend, New Jersey the next, Buffalo the week after that. It's ridiculous. Its almost like a screening mechanism by affluent people to keep more talented poor people out of the sport. In the town the kid I mentioned comes from, probably half the people have taken a plane flight in their lives. There is no reason for any of this. No one in central New England needs to drive more than 50 miles for even competition. Why are teams traveling the country.
Vukotal Recall
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My feelings are just fine, thanks for your concern. But saying that working-class or poor families can afford very expensive pastimes or other activities for their kids if they just budget better is downright ignorant and completely misses the point of what it means for families to struggle financially because of the stratification of society.
Minnesota isn't like this at all. Edina alone has 1200 kids and 80 youth teams alone in their system and the fees aren't more than $600. Factor in a few out of town tournaments and some equipment upgrades you are looking at $1000-2000 a year.
There are two main reasons that hockey can't get more popular outside of Canada and a few hubs in Europe. 1 Fighting/concern of head injurees. 2. The cost of the game. The downfall of traditional hockey countries like Russia, Czech Republique or Slovakia is a product of both. Sooner or later the Same development will Hit Canada, aS well.
Your old Jofa helmet
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Well, there are definitely no credible russian sources. And yeah, I will take the history of my country and generations of my predecessors as a source instead.
I know some sunbelt teams are building rinks and are creating high schools leagues with all expenses paid for. iirc the kings and ducks teamed up to do so, I think the stars and predators also have something similar. Imagine how many stars the nhl missed out on...
Svencouver
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MessierII
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No chance honestly. Housing alone eats up so much of your income in this day and age. I came from a middle class family and had to rely on local charities to supply some of my equipment growing up. I didn’t own a new pair of skates or play with a composite stick until my late teens when I made my own money. This was the 90’s/early 2000’s when everything was way cheaper then today. There’s no way a one income family could put 3 kids through hockey just no way. Even a two income family it would be a struggle and forget about all the hours he spent training with them. Just no way his family situation would be anything close to the same today.
That is why I said "East Coast." I have lived in both Minneapolis and Winnipeg. There are enough participants and ice in those areas where it can be somewhat affordable (though even $1,000 for a youth sport is expensive). I also live on the East Coast of the US now, and it is hard to play in any type of hockey league for under $2K. But the point still remains - wherever you are in N. America to play and have the resources to eventually play at a competitive level requires wealth.
Paperbagofglory
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Perhaps we can have a struggle session to solve our problems comrade? Lets hold hands and watch hollywood movies that tell us how horrible money is. That sounds like a dream date.See, that's what propaganda does. It creates people like you. Fully detached from the real world. In fact fearing contact with it.
