Hockey is a great sport for your child to be involved in! Not only is it a lot of fun, but it will keep them fit and they will likely make some great friends along the way. Unfortunately, ice hockey is also ranked as one of the most expensive sports you could sign your child up for. First, there’s the ice skates that you will have to change out quite often as your child grows, protective equipment, sticks that break, expenses driving to and from games, practices, tournaments and so much more; it all adds up. Below is a quick guide on how to survive the financial burn and manage your time wisely while your children can grow up falling in love and enjoying this wonderful sport; without your wallet and sanity suffering too much.
Buying and Selling Used Hockey Equipment
If you choose to buy new ice hockey equipment every time your child needs a new piece or outgrows something, you might have to dip into your child’s college fund! Studies show that some parents spend up to some ten thousand dollars per child! To avoid this, have a look on sites such as Kijiji, Craigslist or your local Facebook swap buy sell page for some bargains. You can find good quality gear for a much lower price tag, especially when it comes to children’s equipment, as it’s most likely the only reason the previous owner is selling the equipment is due to their child outgrowing it. This goes both ways once your child outgrows a piece of equipment, sell it to make some savings on the new piece of gear you need to buy for them. Another obvious way to save money is handing down equipment from your oldest to the youngest child, or from other friends or extended family.
Managing your Time and Sanity
Having multiple children playing minor ice hockey can seem overwhelming with practices being at different or contradicting times, games being far away and more. Here are some tips to get you through.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help
Organizing carpools and other things that will help each other out between yourself and other parents whose children are also playing on the same minor ice hockey team will make your life a lot easier. Enlist the help of grandparents or relatives too if they don’t mind and live close by.
- Have a Plan!
Plan each week ahead of time, down to the hour! Who will be driving who, down to what you’ll be having for dinner each night if you can. This will save a lot of last minute frustration! But if your dinner plans fail or you forget, don’t feel guilty about the occasional takeout. Sometimes it happens, we can’t all be perfect and manage all our kid’s practices and games and have a home-cooked meal waiting at home, enjoy your pizza you deserved it.
- Organization is key
Have all your children’s different practice and game times and places written on a calendar that is placed somewhere you and your family will see every day, such as the refrigerator. Also make sure all your children’s equipment is in their bags at the front door, ready to go at all times. Have the kids be responsible for their own equipment and for putting everything together when you head out…and away when you return home!
Remember the benefits of a great team sport like minor ice hockey
It’s very easy to get bogged down and tired when you have a child playing a sport that takes up a lot of time such as ice hockey. This is especially true when you have more than one child playing. Just remember that all this is going to be very beneficial for your children in the long run and it’s sure that you will make lots of happy and fun memories revolving around this fantastic sport we call Hockey!
Tim Turk Hockey
