Lifetime Minnesotan hoping to see the Gopher Men's hockey team take it to Quinnipiac tonight in the national championship game!
More than that!Now Connecticut has two National Champs
Sadly, imo, the realties of most youth sports now mirror what you said. Costs are insane as are time commitments. A colleague of mine has a 7 year old starting soccer, and she had to sign a one year commitment that was replete with specific consequences for missed practices, late to practices, etc. The kid is 7!My grandsons both have played hockey forever. The oldest one was offered Juniors but plays college hockey at U of Tampa... He is not on the top team but the realities are that the Spartans recruit the top team from Juniors with full scholarships( so you get 23 year olds..etc). He is on the D3 team undefeated in the regular season and we went to PA to watch the championships.
Juniors is tough. .The demands are great and the pay doesn't cover expenses.
Omg the money Joey D's parents spent over 17 years..https://www.tampaspartanshockey.com/pages/d3-roster-l7jcpxsq ( he is #29)
But the upside is he is doing really well in his major (sports management)and will intern with the TB Buccaneers.
My other grandson has played for13 years and if the college he chooses has hockey that is great. However his goal is engineering.
Hockey kids can require $25k per year.
Neither kid had the slightest interest in Quinnipiac It is way too close to home
I hear you! I got a free subscription to YouTube TV as it carried ESPN2 just to watch the tourney. Once the championship game was done, I cancelled the subscription.I would watch it if I could, but it's one of those semi-obscure sports where finding an on line venue is easier said than done, and requires a recurring monthly subscription. I try to avoid those. My school went 13-22-3 and still nearly won the NCHC tournament, which would have gotten them into the NCAA tournament. Oh well.