@hckynut
I just had my good ole skates white with pink Pom poms ..no fancy stuff for me😉. My boys started in house leagues and earned their way playing on travel teams right thru Midget & high school hockey.
You hit my "pet peeve" ...parents who buy their kids spot on teams vs. ability. We had these 2 brothers who could have gone onto at least minor league but the "new PTB in our league" (big businessmen w/$$$) knocked the everyday parent out.
The fees at that time for each kid was between $2500-3000 w/o extra ice time fees, tournament fees, hotels, etc...then both my boys played. When I served on the BOD for youth travel teams one was a mite the other was a bantam.
I worked the concession stand at the rink and spouse worked extra shifts to pay the fees.
The best thing I ever accomplished was getting sponsors. As you know ice hockey is expensive sport just for equipment -- I met with major corporations and each year they funded $5-7,000 to our league. These sponsors gave a child who couldn't afford it the ability to play. Any monies rolled over each year -- we sponsored over 75 kids in a 8 year period, thanks to sponsors. Then I contacted every NHL team for their hockey banquet who were most generous with donating many things to raffle off OR give the kids.
One year we got the shock of a lifetime (I knew kids didn't) Tim Kerr, Bernie Parent of the Flyers and Mario Lemiuex of the Penguins showed up to speak at the banquet. (My boys still have those autographed jerseys and hockey sticks).
Both my boys are exceptional men (I know all moms say this 😉) but true. When my older son was 27 he was diagnosed with cancer. He spent many hours in chemo, recovering from surgeries, etc. during those endless hours he decided God gave him another chance -- he was going to do something for kids.
He returned to coaching bantam and squirt travel teams -- his brother helped with practices.
But his true love is Bass fishing. Then he founded a fishing blog (IBass360.com) that supports all aspects of childhood diseases. His tag lines is "Live the Passion". He spends many hours just fishing and will out of the blue put together fishing gear & give to someone. in fact, he gave his bass tracker boat to a well deserving young man who had a desire to compete in tournaments but didn't have the resources.
I'm very proud to have been a involved parent for the right reasons -- I still hear from those boys BUT the greatest gift is my kids "pay it forward"🙂🙂
Keep skating --it knows no age and keep enjoying ⛸🥅🏒. When I go rink with GD I see leagues and what wonderful memories they bring back🙂🙂
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