Ice Far Too Costly

One thing no one can say is the cost of enrolling your Son or Daughter to play hockey is getting cheaper and if anything, it’s becoming more and more expensive each year.

The numbers are still up as far as registration for both boy’s and girls, but for Families with more than one youngster at home, can you really afford to play?

Cost of ice, equipment, medical along with transportation all drives the cost up, keeping some players away from a sport they would love to play – but can’t.

One issue we constantly hear is the cost of ice time and how best to utilize the ice when the players are on it?

Should two teams practice at the same time and split the ice or better yet for the smaller or younger teams/players why not use three sheets of ice rather than one?

Some Associations such as both North and South Delta MHA have tried this in the past only to have both Coaches and Parents complain as they all pay the same for registration.

While this is true, it’s time to start to look at the big picture and ask “what can we do to get and keep players involved in the game?”

One thing I can state is that whenever we have done a broadcast on Delta TV we have never used this smaller size boards, cause it would only confuse me when doing play by play, but we could try it – maybe just once.

While we try it north of the 49th, USA Hockey is looking to change this by providing its Affiliate members with an affordable solution that divides the ice in two or three areas while keeping the look of a real rink.

The American Development Model has teamed up with Rink Systems, a member vendor of Serving The American Rink, to provide USA Hockey Affiliates an opportunity to purchase cross-ice hard dividers for their local rinks at discounted prices.

The hard dividers are easy to install and have the look and feel of real boards with curved corners and doors.

The program was recently unveiled to Affiliates in June at the Annual Congress and to date a number have already pledged to earmark a portion of their latest USA Hockey block grant.

This is to help local associations and rinks defray the cost of these hard dividers and with a reduced price tag of $7,000, it also includes shipping.

I am hearing that all rinks are encouraged to purchase two sets of dividers to create what some are calling a true cross-ice experience.

Really – is this what it’s coming too? We used to skate on the pond outdoors in the winter month, but as the late Bob Dylan wrote about “The Times They Are A Changing”.