How To Be A Skating & Hockey Mom Without Going Broke

January 15, 2018

If you’re reading this, chances are you are you can relate to the way I spend many of my weekends: bundled up, bad cup of coffee in hand, watching your child skate at a ridiculously early hour of the morning. You’ve just paid a coach $80 for a private lesson and the rink more for the ice time. The team fees, tournament fees, lessons, extra ice time, skates, travel costs, equipment and apparel for your hockey player or figure skater are growing more expensive by the day.

Many of our rink friends are like us, juggling hockey and skating schedules for multiple children. Realistically, can you pay for all of this and still have enough to retire or send the kids to college? Here’s how we do it.

Buy used

Consignment and resale websites are the rink parent’s secret weapon in managing the high costs of their children’s sports.

  • I buy many of my daughter’s figure skating dresses from other skate moms whose kids have outgrown them. We find them from her coach, or at competitions for her synchronized skating team.
  • Skating tights can run $18-$25 per pair at the skate shop – but only $15 on BrokeSkateMom.com.
  • I’ve purchased much of my son’s hockey equipment on consignment. I use two local stores but you can find used equipment online at sites like Sideline Swap.
  • Look for hand-me-downs. Your child needs good skates ($300-$500) but they are growing out of them every six months! Find a parent with a child 1-2 years older and buy their used skates or hockey equipment. You’ll save hundreds. “Have three children that play and pass down equipment,” quipped the hockey mom of three, Kirsten Bennett Neville.
  • Buy helmets new though, recommended hockey parent Alison Cafferty. “I always get the best because the concussion rate is so high.”

Take advantage of public skating and open stick time

The more time your child has on the ice the more powerful of a skater they become. Both hockey players and figure skaters can benefit from unstructured practice time, independent of games or freestyle sessions. Public skating sessions ($6-$15) and open stick time ($15 – $25) are inexpensive ways to boost ice time. I skate with both my kids and my husband Steve goes to open stick time with my son so we get lots of family time on the ice as well.

Put the math to your sacrifice

I won’t kid you: hockey and figure skating are expensive sports. A fellow synchro parent wrote me recently that they had spent nearly $8,000 last year on individual figure skating and team costs – and their daughter’s only been skating for a few years. “Be realistic about how far your kid will go. Put the math to your sacrifice,” suggested fellow planner Brian Kelly, who coaches and plays hockey. “What percent make it to the NHL or to professional figure skating?”

It’s difficult to keep the cost of hockey down,” says veteran hockey mom Wendy Wippert Klein. “This is due to the fact that the biggest cost is ice time.” The same goes for figure skating, where competitive skaters practice in “freestyle” ice sessions ($12-30/hour), which is ice time devoted to more advanced skaters who can use the full rink for jumps and spins.

My friend Michelle York, whose son is a promising goalie at the AAA Squirt level, said she has “dished out approximately $10k this season in membership fees, tournament costs, hotel and gas.” Michelle sets a budget for the year and has these tips:

  • Choose an organization that has complementary clinics. (That’s a side benefit, too, of my daughter’s synchro team.)
  • Book semi-private instead of private lessons. Sometimes your child will be the only one who shows up to that semi-private slot!
  • Weigh the pros and cons of playing at an elite level when your child is young. It’s a lot of money and pressure.

Beyond that, a few more things to consider:

Skip the pictures

Hockey tournaments and figure skating competitions always seem to have a photography service, taking individual photos and video of all the athletes. Skip the $100 packages and take your own photos and video.

Accept that you may not be going to Disney anytime soon

If your child is dedicated to an ice sport, there are going to be some financial trade-offs. Make sure your child understands that you can’t have it all. Your family may have to choose a less expensive vacation or car so that the kids can play what they love  Show them your sports budget and discuss the trade-offs it entails.

Follow your child’s lead

Follow your child’s lead on the level participation they are ready to handle. Don’t be the Crazy Sports Parent, as tempting as it is! My teenager, for example, skates for herself – not to make her parents happy. She is compelled to practice daily if she fit it around school. My primary school son plays for fun, but he’s not ready to skate every day – and may not ever be.

Remember the benefits of ice sports

There are wonderful benefits to ice sports, though. Cafferty and Klein say it’s been worth every penny. “My son’s commitment and love of the game keep him on the straight and narrow, off all social media, good grades and incredibly health conscious,” she shared. Klein agreed, “Our out of town tournaments are our vacations. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” As someone who spends most early mornings, evenings and weekends at the rink watching at least one child skate, I agree.

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