USA Swimming proposes rule limiting suits

Hockey and swimming are NOT the same sports. Yes, hockey is generally expensive and kids travel hockey is extremely time consuming, but you are comparing apples to oranges here. Since people are jumping all over D2 for being "uninformed" on tech suits, etc., consider me doing the same to you non-hockey parents. When comparing hockey and swimming, you have to look at two cost buckets: dues and equipment. Travel is a third to consider, but since it is probably a wash and sucks for all parents involved, we'll leave that out of the equation. DUES On the dues side, this is where everyone is seeing the $$ disappear in hockey. Travel hockey team dues may or may not include tournament fees, and they escalate fast. Add in additional clinics and the scheduled-at-the-last-minute holiday tournament dues, and you're looking at $2-3k easily. Just for a fall/winter/spring season. And then there's summer... where a lot of kids play in a summer league and go to a camp somewhere in michigan, minnesota or canadia. :canada: On top of all this, did I also mention playing for a second local-only team is not uncommon in these parts? My local USS team costs for Junior I group (pretty much your run-of-the-mill USS BB cut 9-12 year olds) were about $900 for a recommended 4x/wk. Add in a summer team for a nominal fee. By way of comparison, my masters swim practice costs (3x/wk) + meet entry fees ran me about $1k in 2008. Equipment A full set of brand new, mid-range equipment costs about $1200 (with jerseys), but most of it should last 3-5 years before it starts falling apart. For the record, when I started, I paid a bit less for not-as-fancy stuff. If you play goalie, costs can double, BUT is more than made up for in discounts received for being a goalie (most teams and leagues let goalies play either free or for a severely reduced rate due to cost of equipment, especially in the adult leagues). With kids, a lot of rinks and hockey programs have a stash of kids equipment that they rent out - basically, if you and/or your kid wants to try the sport, you can do so with little financial burden. Return it at the end of the season, and if he/she likes it, you can go out and get your own. Furthermore, a lot of teams have a team (or two) in most every division for kids 6-17, and will have programs set up where as the kids outgrow their equipment and move up, they can sell their small stuff to the next crop of little guys. Buying used equipment cuts down the cost at least 50%, and a lot of people go that route. Aside from rolls of tape, regular skate sharpening and a new stick every once in a while, that isn't much when you amortize the startup cost over time. Figuring a replacement/upgrade of one piece of basic equipment a year, I'd say $300/annually is a fair cost. There's really not much swim equipment a person NEEDS. Goggles, caps and practice suits are probably on every young swimmer's gift wish lists annually - and there's always the occasional set of fins and paddles (buoy and kickboard can last forever). One good non-full-body suit for the end-of-season meet, and that's $150 annually. These days, swim parents are having to shell out for one or two low-tech (ie fs1/2) suits for random meets, and then potentially spend $350 on a b70 or $550 on a LZR?!?!? All of which have a short life span and can't really be transferred to another swimmer. Figure on getting a new fs2 annually and a super-tech suit every other year, plus the above basic spend, and we're looking at $500 annually for equipment. Bottom Line Hockey will blow away swimming with dues costs, and I think that is a fact that most previous hockey-hater posters are alluding to. However, at the equipment level, the need to exceed hockey's costs is ludicris. Hockey players need thick pads for protection - ice is hard and a rubber puck flying at 70-100MPH hurts like hell if your body gets in the way of it. Swimmers don't need full-body coverage - just coverage of our personal areas. If your kid wants to play hockey, and you can pay for it, go for it. If your kid wants to swim, is fast and wants a super-tech suit and you can pay for it, go for it. But for everyone else, parents shouldn't feel pressured to be spending ridiculous amounts of money on a sport that is traditionally just about as inexpensive as you can get (after fort's running). :2cents:

Hockey and swimming are NOT the same sports. Yes, hockey is generally expensive and kids travel hockey is extremely time consuming, but you are comparing apples to oranges here. Since people are jumping all over D2 for being "uninformed" on tech suits, etc., consider me doing the same to you non-hockey parents. When comparing hockey and swimming, you have to look at two cost buckets: dues and equipment. Travel is a third to consider, but since it is probably a wash and sucks for all parents involved, we'll leave that out of the equation. DUES On the dues side, this is where everyone is seeing the $$ disappear in hockey. Travel hockey team dues may or may not include tournament fees, and they escalate fast. Add in additional clinics and the scheduled-at-the-last-minute holiday tournament dues, and you're looking at $2-3k easily. Just for a fall/winter/spring season. And then there's summer... where a lot of kids play in a summer league and go to a camp somewhere in michigan, minnesota or canadia. :canada: On top of all this, did I also mention playing for a second local-only team is not uncommon in these parts? My local USS team costs for Junior I group (pretty much your run-of-the-mill USS BB cut 9-12 year olds) were about $900 for a recommended 4x/wk. Add in a summer team for a nominal fee. By way of comparison, my masters swim practice costs (3x/wk) + meet entry fees ran me about $1k in 2008. Equipment A full set of brand new, mid-range equipment costs about $1200 (with jerseys), but most of it should last 3-5 years before it starts falling apart. For the record, when I started, I paid a bit less for not-as-fancy stuff. If you play goalie, costs can double, BUT is more than made up for in discounts received for being a goalie (most teams and leagues let goalies play either free or for a severely reduced rate due to cost of equipment, especially in the adult leagues). With kids, a lot of rinks and hockey programs have a stash of kids equipment that they rent out - basically, if you and/or your kid wants to try the sport, you can do so with little financial burden. Return it at the end of the season, and if he/she likes it, you can go out and get your own. Furthermore, a lot of teams have a team (or two) in most every division for kids 6-17, and will have programs set up where as the kids outgrow their equipment and move up, they can sell their small stuff to the next crop of little guys. Buying used equipment cuts down the cost at least 50%, and a lot of people go that route. Aside from rolls of tape, regular skate sharpening and a new stick every once in a while, that isn't much when you amortize the startup cost over time. Figuring a replacement/upgrade of one piece of basic equipment a year, I'd say $300/annually is a fair cost. There's really not much swim equipment a person NEEDS. Goggles, caps and practice suits are probably on every young swimmer's gift wish lists annually - and there's always the occasional set of fins and paddles (buoy and kickboard can last forever). One good non-full-body suit for the end-of-season meet, and that's $150 annually. These days, swim parents are having to shell out for one or two low-tech (ie fs1/2) suits for random meets, and then potentially spend $350 on a b70 or $550 on a LZR?!?!? All of which have a short life span and can't really be transferred to another swimmer. Figure on getting a new fs2 annually and a super-tech suit every other year, plus the above basic spend, and we're looking at $500 annually for equipment. Bottom Line Hockey will blow away swimming with dues costs, and I think that is a fact that most previous hockey-hater posters are alluding to. However, at the equipment level, the need to exceed hockey's costs is ludicris. Hockey players need thick pads for protection - ice is hard and a rubber puck flying at 70-100MPH hurts like hell if your body gets in the way of it. Swimmers don't need full-body coverage - just coverage of our personal areas. If your kid wants to play hockey, and you can pay for it, go for it. If your kid wants to swim, is fast and wants a super-tech suit and you can pay for it, go for it. But for everyone else, parents shouldn't feel pressured to be spending ridiculous amounts of money on a sport that is traditionally just about as inexpensive as you can get (after fort's running). :2cents: