Would Walter Gretzky, as a member the working class, will be able to afford hockey today?

[Johnnybegood13]

In parts of the Maritimes youth hockey is thriving on 50/50 draws, some parents don't pay a dime in fees because they sell enough tickets, to bad other provincial governments weren't so greedy to allow it.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

It’s unfortunate how expensive playing hockey is becoming.

Another example of a player we might not have seen with today’s relative cost of playing, whose impact on the game was immeasurably vast, was Börje Salming. He and his brother lost their father in a mining accident when Börje was five, and they were raised by a poor widow. In the 50s and 60s, you could apparently come a long way with your brother’s oversized, raggedy old equipment playing pickup hockey on frozen lakes.

Furthermore, I feel like the number of family connections in today’s NHL says a thing or two about the barriers for kids from average or low-income households to make it to pros these days.

 

[Windy River]

what happens if your child did not have a backyard rink?

Alot less pond hockey, I’d imagine.

 

[HugeInTheShire]

Wow that's crazy. What the f*** costs that much, traveling?

They supply absolutely nothing, you pay travel, hotel, food.. basically Canada pays for nothing that isn't hockey

 

[Islay1989]

Imagine thinking that being part of the aristocracy means that you are rich when talking about the Russian Empire and what transpired after the revolution

 

[ManofSteel55]

Reading his wikipedia entry I wouldn't exactly say he had a working class upbringing.

His parents owned some land, so he wasn't working class? I don't think you understand how farming works.

 

[Machinehead]

You can't budget your way out of poverty. That notion has always been ridiculous.

 

[BoneDocUK]

It’s unfortunate how expensive playing hockey is becoming.

Another example of a player we might not have seen with today’s relative cost of playing, whose impact on the game was immeasurably vast, was Börje Salming. He and his brother lost their father in a mining accident when Börje was five, and they were raised by a poor widow. In the 50s and 60s, you could apparently come a long way with your brother’s oversized, raggedy old equipment playing pickup hockey on frozen lakes.

Furthermore, I feel like the number of family connections in today’s NHL says a thing or two about the barriers for kids from average or low-income households to make it to pros these days.

How did this story not make it onto an affecting human-interest segment of HNIC? I can picture Ron Mc with a miner's headlamp, gazing onto a sepia-toned lake where Young Börje, skating on bits of wood with scrap metal strapped to the bottoms to serve as blades, toils across a frozen lake.

Some kids with less means likely still have a shot, but how much of a shot relative to their better-off peers? Skills camps, personal coaches, academies, tournament fees, top-end equipment. Three of the kids on my MTHL team made to the NHL, although none had more than a journeyman career; all of them had plenty of resources behind them, as well as being very, very good. Would they have been as good playing under different financial circumstances? Probably. Would their quality have thrived within a constrained family income and circumstances? Doubtful, IMO.

 

[LGBlues]

Union repair persons make more money than some professionals I know but it is a great question. Hockey seems to be getting too many children of NHL'ers to think that the best talented are making it to highschool, college and pros. It is the exception in others sports, even where genetic height and size has a bigger impact - something is not quite right that the pool is getting smaller.

 

[JFedol]

Makes you wonder how many stars around the world we’ve missed out on.

There 100% is a player out there who was probably better if not 100x greater than Wayne/Mario/Orr/Howe combined IMO lol. He probably couldn't afford it and had to give it up and settle for something else unfortunately

That Stephen Jay quote is f***ing real and it's just sad

 

[Oilslick941611]

If you can handle budgeting, you can afford a lot more things than you think.

If you’re making 40-50k a year there isn’t much you can do to afford 15k for hockey year in and year out.

 

[x Tame Impala]

If you’re making 40-50k a year there isn’t much you can do to afford 15k for hockey year in and year out.

If you’re making $50k a year and have a family to support you should be doing everything you possibly can to elevate your earning potential. You have a family that’s counting on you. Affording hockey is the least of your worries.

 

[SomeDude]

If you’re making 40-50k a year there isn’t much you can do to afford 15k for hockey year in and year out.

That post was also made over 3 years ago. No doubt the financial situation for the majority of families has become much more challenging since then.

 

[Oilslick941611]

If you’re making $50k a year and have a family to support you should be doing everything you possibly can to elevate your earning potential. You have a family that’s counting on you. Affording hockey is the least of your worries.

That’s kind of my point.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

Just an aside, but parents know wooden sticks exist, right?

Like, if your kid’s not leading the team in scoring, they don’t need a $300 stick.

 

[SomeDude]

Just an aside, but parents know wooden sticks exist, right?

Like, if your kid’s not leading the team in scoring, they don’t need a $300 stick.

While wooden sticks are extinct in this day and age for life hockey, the point stands that there are a ton of ways to get cheap used equipment these days.

Facebook, eBay, sideline swap, your local play it again sports. Junior sized stuff is very affordable used. Unless your kid wants to play goalie. Then you’re just screwed.

 

[Acallabeth]

That post was also made over 3 years ago. No doubt the financial situation for the majority of families has become much more challenging since then.

And it's only been 3 years.

 

[Khrox]

Just an aside, but parents know wooden sticks exist, right?

Like, if your kid’s not leading the team in scoring, they don’t need a $300 stick.

Even mid tier new sticks on sale are $200/each

Used "Juniors" sized sticks can still be upwards of $200, or as cheap as $50, but with both cheaper product and used product, the need to replace it also adds up. You get your 30-50 games (70 if you're good enough to get to higher end Juniors), plus your practices with the team (lets say another 100 or so?) plus any practice you do outside of team practices. You're not going through 1-2 sticks a season, even if you aren't "leading the team in scoring".

These discussions always remind me of Terry Pratchets "Boots Theory of Economic Inequality" from his Discworld series (which he wrote that bit as a commentary on very real things he saw in society already). "people in poverty have to buy cheap and subpar products that need to be replaced repeatedly, proving more expensive in the long run than more expensive items."

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

Even mid tier new sticks on sale are $200/each

Used "Juniors" sized sticks can still be upwards of $200, or as cheap as $50, but with both cheaper product and used product, the need to replace it also adds up. You get your 30-50 games (70 if you're good enough to get to higher end Juniors), plus your practices with the team (lets say another 100 or so?) plus any practice you do outside of team practices. You're not going through 1-2 sticks a season, even if you aren't "leading the team in scoring".

These discussions always remind me of Terry Pratchets "Boots Theory of Economic Inequality" from his Discworld series (which he wrote that bit as a commentary on very real things he saw in society already). "people in poverty have to buy cheap and subpar products that need to be replaced repeatedly, proving more expensive in the long run than more expensive items."

$300 sticks are designed to take 10-15 shots - they’re not meant for durability.

 

[JPT]

That post was also made over 3 years ago. No doubt the financial situation for the majority of families has become much more challenging since then.

Things have been challenging for the majority of families for a lot longer than 3 years. There was a sharper increase in prices between 2019 and 2021 than there has been from 2021 until now, while wages have gone up at a slower pace than prices. A majority of families weren't going to do some elite-level budgeting to be able to afford high-end hockey three years ago either.

 

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

That post was also made over 3 years ago. No doubt the financial situation for the majority of families has become much more challenging since then.

Leave SomeDude alone!!! Leave him alonnneeee!!!! He only had 10 snarky responses to his post already

 

[57special]

Reading his wikipedia entry I wouldn't exactly say he had a working class upbringing.

A 25 acre farm is tiny. You would know that if you knew anything about farming.

Also, there was this thing called the Russian Revolution, where landowners had their lands, belongings, and often, lives, taken from them.

 

[SomeDude]

Things have been challenging for the majority of families for a lot longer than 3 years. There was a sharper increase in prices between 2019 and 2021 than there has been from 2021 until now, while wages have gone up at a slower pace than prices. A majority of families weren't going to do some elite-level budgeting to be able to afford high-end hockey three years ago either.

A lot of things were different in 2021. Interest rates were still historically low, the unemployment benefit huge increase was in affect if you were out of work in the US. Child tax credits were issued among other benefits available to most people who applied. Those are largely gone now while the prices have continued to climb.

The people who are especially screwed since then are renters as the cost of rent has really egregiously increased in recent years compared to the past.

I will still stand by my statement that a lot can be surprisingly accomplished with proper budgeting. I know this from experience as my wife is a master budgeter and really changed how I viewed money and how and where I spend it from before we met. We have been able to afford things and save more money than I would have ever thought possible given our current income by cutting costs on non-essentials. As I said in a previous post, there are ways to bring the cost down for the sport as well.

This is obviously applicable to the scenario in the OP of a family making pretty average income. Obviously, if you are in a low income situation it is not possible.

 

[John Mandalorian]

So Walter was part of the proletariat? Does his discussion involve a manifesto of some sort?

 

[kingsholygrail]

Being in any organized sports league for kids is becoming too expensive. Even soccer is getting pricey.