The old guy is on his way to his perch in the quiet corner of the rink. He shuffles past two parents deep in conversation. His gait is slow and unsteady, which allows him to catch long bits of conversation. His ears are still sharp.

The parents are here for the first game of the playoffs; two teams that have pounded each other throughout the season are locked into what promises to be an emotional contest. At least two of the parents, though, aren't discussing the impending battle; they're talking about the price of playing minor hockey in the big city.

One of them has a son who's considering the jump to AAA hockey. He's a great AA player who has enjoyed being the star at the lower level. Many of the boy's friends have successfully made the leap to the top. His dad is well aware of the extra intensity and aggressiveness that's required to survive the on-ice wars. He's completely unprepared for the price he'll have to pay to see if his son has what it takes.

A few days ago he received a recruitment call from a coach who wanted his son to move up to AAA. He talked about scheduling two and maybe three extra practices a week. He was planning on recruiting specialized coaches to work with the players on their skating and their shooting.

The team would pay to have a few games recorded for post-game video analysis. It sounded great. All this and more for the registration fee of $3,400. Two post-dated cheques would be acceptable, although one up-front payment is preferred.

Helmet, pants and sticks? Those are the responsibility of the player. Five tournaments, three of them requiring hotel rooms for at least two nights, meals and transportation. Then there are the incidental costs of skates, tape and admission fees to the games.

The dad balked at the price, which surprised the coach. He thought the fees were low. Most teams were demanding more than $4,000 and some were closer to $5,000.

The old guy hears it all. His shoelace just happened to come undone as he moseyed by. Getting down on his haunches and then back up is a slow laborious process so he's able to hear every last word. Those numbers have him shaking his head and mumbling to himself. He remembers buying his gold '69 Chevy Biscayne for $2,942. Now it costs more than that for a kid to play hockey for a season, and for a bad team with bad coaching.

Up ahead he sees Tom, who's on the executive of his grandsons AA club. As Tom gets closer the old guy calls out. "Hey, Tom. What are you crooks charging to play here next year?"

Tom is standing by himself. He hears his name and looks around, searching to see who's calling. He spots the old guy making his way towards him. They're not close friends, but they've known each other for years.

"Jimmy, haven't seen you for a long time. That must be your grandson out there. By the sound of it you haven't become any more subtle."

"No use wasting time on being nice," says the old guy, matter-of-factly. "So how much are you guys ripping people off to have kids wear those wretched green sweaters of yours?"

Tom knows Jimmy as loud and cantankerous but he also knows him as honest and straightforward. "We had a meeting last week and decided we needed to raise the fees a bit."

"How can you guys justify charging more money?" The old guy could feel one of his rants coming over him. "You guys are destroying the game. All you do is collect money. Not everyone’s rich, you know. What do you guys do, use registration fees for beer money?"

Tom tries to be patient.

"Jimmy, give me a chance here. We raised our fees by $50. That makes it $700 per kid. I know it's a lot, but it's cheaper than the big boys in AAA. Our fees are probably the cheapest in the league. Most of the other teams are charging up to $900. They're annoyed with us for keeping ours so low.”

Jimmy's anger begins to evaporate. Seven hundred dollars is a lot, too much, but less than $900, and far cheaper than the thousands of dollars the big-time AAA teams are demanding. The old guy settles onto the cold bench as Tom explains what the players get for the money.

It starts with a spring jacket and a team cap when the players sign their registration card. The organization will supply hockey pants, gloves, practice sweater, socks, bag and ice time for six practices a month, along with fees for referees and game sheets. On top of that there will be team and individual pictures, a team banquet and the entry fee for two tournaments.

It made some sense to the old guy although he wasn’t convinced. A look at the extravagant SUVs and the luxury imports in the arena parking lot shows clearly that some of these parents have money to burn. But what about the single moms and unemployed labourers struggling to make ends meet who want their kids to play on the most competitive teams?

His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of the referee's whistle. He leans forward to watch the play and concerns about the cost of hockey vanish. That's one of the benefits of being the grandpa: you don't have to pay the bills.

  [Email Ken here]

I enjoy reading your light hearted take on some of the more sensitive issues in minor league hockey. This weeks article is equally as good, and compels me to write. I am a single mother, struggling to pay for hockey and considering the move back down to houseleague for my son.

Everyone says that I can't do that too him, that he is too good for houseleague. Almost everyone who says that, is in a two parent family and drive the new SUV's and vans and have the money to buy their kid a $250 hockey stick too.

But, I can't afford the "AAA" costs either. So, we're in the middle.... "A". H loves the game. But, financially, we can't keep up. There is no middle ground.

Besides, the more money that parents dole out to keep their kids playing travel hockey, the more expectations they place on their child and the other players.It ends up crushing the kids' enthusiasm and spirit for the game. I've witnessed that first hand. Parents can be a very critical group of people when their kid isn't getting as much ice time as the other kids. It never ends.

Thanks for your time. Keep writing.

Tracy Robinson
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I'm not sure if this article is factual or fictional but I guess it doesn't matter as the content seems true enough.

It bothers me to no end that a childs' future in hockey can/will be determined by the size of the parents wallet.

I grew up in a household of very modest means where if my parents had been required to pay such exorbitant fees I would never have been able to participate. To make a long story short, I went on to University mainly because of the white collar enviroment I was introduced to through junior hockey and that it was the last competitive level of amateur hockey left for me to play. The degree I earned was, quite frankly , secondary at the time.

Were I growing up today in the same circumstances I am quite certain I would not even have made it to junior as the financial resources wouldn't have been there in minor hockey. I find it saddening that few children in the future will have doors open for them the way they did for me becuase they were blessed with a gift and passion for hockey.

Brian Clark
New Brunswick
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Am I reading this correctly? Between $700.00 and $900.00 for a kid to play hockey? And AA or AAA hockey? I'm emailing from suburban Detroit, Michigan, where it costs us $1,300.00 for a season of House "B" hockey.

Ya' wanna' play A or AA...that will cost you over $3,500.00 per season. $700.00 to $900.00? Where do we sign-up?

Andy Baumanis
Detroit, Mich.
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This is the first time I have come across this web page, just by chance looking up hockey scores for my son. I have now bookmarked the page.