Youth Hockey Tuition Explained

I've had so many conversations in rink lobbies over the years where people relentlessly bemoan different programs and their varying tuition rates.

Hockey is too expensive, no one can afford to play, it's disproportionately priced, it's a rip off, it doesn't make sense, etc...

It's like a hockey parent rite of passage -- you're not a true hockey parent until you've openly complained about the costs in a group setting.

And they say these things about the program they've signed their kid up for too!

I just kind of bite the insides of my cheeks cause, well, maybe it's cause I'm a math geek...or maybe it's because my kids have played for a number of programs that were very transparent with us.

There are a ton of expenses from the program's side of things and just to keep it simple, just think about how much it would cost to rent and lock down 100 hours of ice time?

They line that stuff up in advance...which directly relates to my recent article about how teams frequently pick the rosters BEFORE tryouts. It's for everyone's benefit. Read the article if that doesn't connect.

Tuition, for us, has always been directly linked to the number of ice sheets we have.

Direct correlation.

No grey area. None.

In my neck of the woods, during prime hours during the hockey season (weeknight evenings or anytime on the weekend, you know, when practices and games occur), a one hour ice sheet costs around $500.

Some rinks are cheaper.

Some are more.

Going rate is around $500 per hour, though.

The facilities obviously offer bulk rate pricing for teams...but five hundred is a nice easy number to work with.

And 90-minute time slots are harder to process without busting out a pen and paper... I'll spare everyone the tough to visualize math.

So, we're going with 60 minute ice slots at a rate of $500.

So, let's say, games included, your team is going to get 25 home game slots and 75 weeknight practice hours for a total of 100 hours of ice time.

That sounds like a lot of practice but it works out to around 3 practices or skills sessions per week for a full season.

Doing super easy math, that works out to $50,000. For one team.

Numbers get pretty big, pretty fast, huh?

Price points like that directly determine the tuition rate.

Now, let's say the roster has 3 full lines -- 16 skaters -- nine forwards and six defense.

Goalies, if you don't already know, are generally given a solid discount so let's leave them out of this...

Fifty thousand dollars divided into 16 pieces is $3125 per player.

That, right there, is a MAJORITY of your tuition.

On one of those teams where the "difficult" parents insist on "full ice" practices and a short bench? Okay, $50k divided by 10 players is a $5k tuition.

Always remember that when the season starts and you see you have 18 or 19 skaters -- we've skated with teams that absolutely have a reputation for ripping people off...but the reputation isn't accurate. It's was always entirely based on roster size.

The ice time is $50k no matter what. The tuition was always based on how many people were paying for it.

An 18 skater roster brings it down to under $2800 for the season.

That's a big difference.

Sharing a full sheet with another team brings that tuition down even more.

Chris -- this still isn't adding up. You're wrong. So wrong.

Actually, not really.

Ice time is the biggest expense for every hockey program.

One year, we had a mom all up in arms at the tail end of February claiming we were "shorted" a skills session.

She had a chart where she'd been checking things off all season long. She even had a stopwatch at games to keep track of her kid's ice time. Full blown crazy town.

Don't be that person -- at the end of the day, you're making a stink over maybe $30.

One hour of ice is nothing over the course of a season.

Not worth getting upset over.

But your tuition likely is a little higher than my super simplified calculations up above because the programs also need to add on things like tournament fees and league fees.

You think you get to participate in that fancy non-USA Hockey sanctioned "elite" league for free?

Um...no.

Referees aren't free either. I've got two of them living in my house -- they get paid...

And tournament fees are pushing $2000 these days -- which also adds up appropriately since everyone is usually guaranteed four games...at $500 per sheet.

4 x $500 = $2000

See where I'm going?

You're not getting ripped off. That's just the going rate.

And if your kids are older and the program is bringing in a trainer to work with them in the gym, boom, that's another few hundred dollars tacked on too.

Programs that boast "professional" coaches that aren't bluffing -- few and far between, most ARE totally bluffing -- are also kicking back a little money towards the coaches running skills and practices or travelling to games.

Rightfully so, too.

Insider hint: Follow the coaching. The "professional" coaching.

But all of these tacked on expenses are peanuts in comparison to the ice time.

So, no matter what your tuition is -- and don't ask the team to itemize things -- when you break it down yourself, I've only had one instance where the numbers just didn't add up...and that was a Spring Tournament Team.

Yeah, be weary of of those. Spring teams and summer tournaments are out to take advantage of you.

If you don't like the tuition at one program -- go to another.

But, remember, it's the ice time that you're paying for.

An 18-skater roster for a team that only practices twice per week is cheaper for that reason alone.

And the peculiar thing about those teams is that they often make everyone pay extra for tournaments...so the savings aren't really there.

Point is, regular season teams, by and large, aren't fleecing anyone. No one is getting rich.

Well, maybe the owners of the facilities renting out the ice are...but can you imagine the operating costs they have?

I'd bet that adds up logically too.

So, like, for us our total 2024-25 tuition for all three kids adds up to $16455 USD.

One season: sixteen thousand, four hundred, and fifty-five dollars.

Yep, that's a lot of money.

I'm partially putting that number out there to showcase that, while you may think your number is HUGE, the families with multiple players, and older players, is really huge.

If all three of mine are still playing two years from now, my family's tuition will easily top $20k.

But, when I tabulate our hours of ice, the number of tournaments, the number of off-ice hours with training, take into account the average roster size across their three teams, and then divide the $16k by it...well, wouldn't you know, it comes out to just a tad above what I know the going rate for ice time is.

Validation, right there.

So I have nothing to complain about -- the numbers align.

Coming soon...an article about that nasty annual USA Hockey fee we all have to pay.

Spoiler alert...it's actually an insurance policy that's a solid deal too -- especially if you're playing within a USA Hockey sanctioned league!

Agree? Disagree? Let me know -- I love the feedback from all angles!

Chris Rutsch

Hockey Dad

Year round, I spend a significant amount of time and money transporting my three boys to and from freezing cold ice rinks. Not because I expect them to make it to the NHL but because I know the rigorous youth hockey experience will serve them well in the future.