Hockey Price Check

 I've been thinking of getting into hockey. I love underwater hockey but it's quite far from home- I'm sure there are hundreds of people worldwide who would jump at the chance to drive an hour to reach two different teams but I find myself tired before I even get out the door. I think the experience of studying underwater hockey rules (I do try to improve it just doesn't come naturally to me) has let me follow professional hockey. Every time we go to a game I wish I was on the ice. Not playing necessarily. But if there was a skating intermission so we could stretch our legs, that would be ideal. 

I try not to put artificial obstacles in my own way. If I want to play hockey, I can make that happen. But the barriers! First, I live near a rink. It has hockey. It has women's hockey. So now the only things I need to handle are gear, scheduling, and not knowing how to play. I set a budget for this of $500. As in, how could it cost more than a couple hundred dollars to play a rec sport as an adult? Better double it to have some cushion. Through research I found out that $500 was not double the starting cost of playing hockey. 

Okay. The rink wants me to wear "full gear." Our local lakes have never, ever frozen so I will be playing indoors if at all. I don't know what constitutes full gear but probably head to toe coverage. 

Starting with my beloved face and head, $75 to protect it seems super reasonable. 

Moving on to skates- because I am a beginner I have to choose basically a pair to learn what I like and don't like. I don't worry about women's skates and my street shoe size puts me in "intermediate" sizes. This is lucky for cost because senior skates, which start at around Women's US10, are about 30% pricier in the same model. 

So for mystery skates plus head protection it is $245, still under budget. 

Here we get into the part I particularly don't want to wear, carry, store, care for, pay for- the protective equipment. I visualize the frozen/flooded backyard that I could tool around on by myself if I had it. I double check that I am not overlooking a source of frozen/flooded backyard. 

At $269, shinguards and other guards bring the total to $514. Budget ruined, with no gloves, stick, sales tax, or hockey classes. 

I do think this is still doable. Instead of starting on the ice I am going to spectate for a little while and see what I can learn from women who are already playing. To me, it is better to rule out a hobby than to add another halfheartedly. Why don't I go to the archery range? I love archery. Why don't I go to underwater hockey? I just need to build an errand into my day so that I am already in the same city as the pool and then I will go. And, why don't I get a little better at skating, either ice skating or roller blading?