Vicki Price wrote:
>
> In a message dated 2-7-98, 9:35:55 AM, Vicki Price wrote
>
> <, more than the opinions of Dave Hendrickson....
>
> GOT ME DAVE!       On this one we really do agree 100%!
>
 
Actually, I suspect Vicki and I probably agree on at least 95%
of things, but have just had the misfortunate of discussing
publicly the other 5%.  :-)
 
> In a message dated  2-8-98, 12:13:46 AM, Dave Hendrickson wrote
>
> >,but I would have to say that the typical bill for a kid playing super-
> serious hockey (the only kind to get him to D-1) is several thousand dollars
> at least. My best guess would be about $5,000. a year if a kid plays year
> round, but that could vary.
>
> I believe Dave also has a son in hockey and is very involved with that aspect
> of the sport. So he knows! I picked up my family of two (Jason and I) lock ,
> stock and barrel and moved us to Minnesota FOR HOCKEY. Because I could no
> longer afford LA and the exorbitant costs of playing and the hours on the road
> getting him from one rink to the next. With no promises attached, we became
> road warriors from the age of eight on. That's lots of gas mileage, hotel
> rooms, hockey lessons, all on the credit card.
>
 
I didn't interject my own circumstances, because Vicki and Jason were
being
discussed, but, yes, my son is a hockey fanatic.  His tuition for his
winter
team is $1200 (or maybe it's $1400, I forget), practices and home games
are
almost an hour away, each way.  Because he plays in an elite league that
is
spread out geographically, some away games are over two hours away, each
way.
The $1200 doesn't cover his summer team, tournaments, hotel expenses at
those
tournaments, camps, extra training sessions and so on.  I haven't ever
figured it out, because I really don't want to know, but with everything
added in we have got to be way over $5000 a year.
 
There's a reason I drive around in my Slob-mobile, with the front seat
propped up by a hockey stick, the windows don't work, except by pulling
them up by a cable hooked at the bottom, and it's up to about 170,000
miles.  The reason is that we spend a fortune on hockey.
 
Unfortunately, my son is little.  He plays with a lot of heart, but on a
team of 13-14 year olds, he is the second-shortest kid and the lightest
kid at 92 pounds (he's trying to put on weight -- five fried eggs, bacon
and four
english muffins for breakfast this morning!).  He's literally half the
weight of some kids on his team.  At that size, you have to
*really* stand out skill-wise.
 
I'm not betting against his work ethic -- you
should see him do sprints outside to improve speed, dribble a golf ball
inside the house to work on his hands, and shoot pucks down in the
basement --
but objectively someone could easily peg him for Division II or III.  If
so, that would mean he'd get not one penny out of hockey.
 
Why do I do it?  Because I love my son and would
do anything for him.  Why does he do it?   Because he loves the game (as
do I,
of course), ever since the day he sat down to watch a Bruins game when
he
was three years old and didn't get up until the game was over.  And
within
a week could name all the Bruins.  His middle name is David, which, of
course,
was "Daddy" to him, and at that age he transformed his name into "Ryan
Daddy
David Hendrickson."  After going to see a Bruins game in which the crowd
chanted
"Reggie" for goaltender Reggie Lemelin, Ryan decided he wanted to be
called
"Reggie Ryan Daddy David Hendrickson."  The kid is just nuts about
hockey.
 
And because he lives in a little town that doesn't even have a high
school hockey program of its own, and the one they piggy-back on plays
at such a low-level, it'd be developmentally suicide to have him go
there,
we're looking at a minimum of $6000 a year to go to a school where the
hockey program won't drag him down.  And I'm ticked off that even if I
went totally bankrupt, I couldn't afford the $20K a year schools that
are one step higher.
 
Believe me, kids who get hockey scholarships earn every dollar and more.
 
Sorry to have rambled on so long, but I have trouble shutting up about
some things.  Okay, I have trouble shutting up about *most* things.
(Who's the wise guy in the back that said, "Everything!...)  :-)
 
Dave Hendrickson
 
P.S.  Vicki, the SLOB-MOBILE is now working again, thank you.  The Visa
bill is even higher now, and, as I pointed out above, it a'int pretty,
but it's running.