Colorado youth hockey participation has increased dramatically during the past decade. With that surge in interest has come a corresponding hope, often a pipe dream of kids and their parents, of having little Johnny star in the collegiate or pro ranks.
Those dreams aren’t cheap. And no youth team sport requires the time, dedication and money as much as hockey does to reach an elite level.
“I know how much money it is and how much my family sacrifices,” said 16-year-old Max Hartner, captain of the Colorado Thunderbirds midget-minor (16-under) team. “Being on the team, and working so hard together, is worth it. Most people playing Triple-A hockey are at the mind-set that nobody is pushing you. You’re doing it because you want to.”
Youths who don’t get involved in hockey well before they are teenagers stand little chance of playing at the collegiate or professional level.
Hockey requires an enormous amount of ice time to develop the skills to reach the upper levels of amateur play. While some elite football, basketball or soccer players find their niche in their mid- to late teens, it rarely happens in hockey, making it the most competitive — and expensive — youth team sport.
Full-season programs in Colorado for children 8 and younger normally cost around $700, and that price climbs as kids get older. Some Double-A and Triple-A squirt, peewee, bantam and midget travel teams cost as much as $9,000 a child per season, plus travel expenses for parents.
Beginning at age 9, there are tryouts and cuts, but some parents avoid the latter by providing their children more ice time. That creates an additional investment in money and time.
Hockey is played primarily in the fall, winter and early spring, and coincides with football and basketball seasons. Some parents think their children must participate in offseason hockey leagues or camps to get ahead. This leads to a year-round hockey commitment, something many experts advise against.
“I don’t believe kids should play (hockey) 11 months a year, never have,” said Ryan Stewart, director of the Front Range Amateur Hockey Association in Aurora. “But there are some kids where, all they want to do is play hockey. . . . No matter what sport you’re looking at, the more sports you do, the better you’ll be.”
Too much on-ice structure can be a recipe for burnout.
“Our job as hockey directors isn’t to send players to the NHL,” said Graham Johnson, director of the youth program at the University of Denver. “Our job is twofold: One, to make good men and women on and off the ice. And two, to make great adult-league players. By that, I mean give them the opportunity to love the game so much that they play it the rest of their life.”
Angelo Ricci agrees. He was a star University of Denver forward and NHL prospect before suffering a career-ending wrist injury and now is director of the Littleton Hockey Association.
“There truly are parents out there that feel their son or daughter is their meal ticket,” Ricci said. “It is so hard to play junior hockey, extremely difficult to play college hockey and nearly impossible to play professional hockey.
“Our parents’ focus should not be on getting their child a college scholarship, but on allowing them to learn the core values of teamwork, accountability, discipline, respect, role acceptance and sportsmanship.”
Ricci also is the head coach of the Colorado Thunderbirds’ midget-minor all-star team. Stewart coaches the Thunderbirds’ midget-major (18-under) squad. Both are USA Hockey coaching instructors who have certified many of Colorado’s youth coaches.
Thunderbird parents and other Triple-A organizations around the country pay between $7,500 and $9,000 per season for their child, Ricci said. That includes practice ice, tournament costs, travel, coach’s fees, apparel and most equipment.
Hartner’s mother, Gail, a nurse, said the costs are worth it.
“It keeps him busy, and he makes a lot of friends,” she said. “They are the kind of people I want my son to hang out with. It’s tough (financially) because you feel like you’re spending his college education. But he has a dream to play Division I college hockey, and right now, that’s what he’s working for, and he’s learning so much along the way about commitment and leadership and other life lessons.”
The Thunderbirds meet up to five times per week, including dryland training and video review.
Stewart, a former pro prospect from Kelowna, British Columbia, said youth programs should limit ice time.
“Quality is more important than quantity,” Stewart said. “Two practices a week, two games on weekends — that’s what we do. Sometimes they get more touches on the ice if they choose to go to public skate or stick and puck, but that’s up to them.”
Johnson said nonstructured sessions should be limitless. That’s the way it was for him growing up on the frozen ponds in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
“When I was growing up, sometimes I’d be on the ice six, seven times a week, because I was having fun,” Johnson said. “But sometimes the mentality of the parent becomes the mentality of the kid. As coaches, you have to make sure it’s really fun.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
