Hockey Fees – Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why do we pay a registration fee and then additional fees throughout the year?

Minor and Female Hockey Associations across the Province collect fees differently.  Some collect most of the fees up front, and some (like us) choose to have lower up-front registration costs with instalment payments to cover the team annual budget.  We chose this approach as many teams fundraise a significant portion of their budget and may only have to pay the up-front registration fee out of pocket, and we recognize the cost of hockey is significant and installments are more palatable for many.  Our current registration costs between $650-$850.

2. What do our fees cover?

• Your single largest fee is ice.  See below for an estimate of cost.
• Other fees that the association needs to pay include:
• Hockey Nova Scotia Fees (insurance is the biggest)
• League Fees
• Referees & Timekeepers
• Jersey Supplement 
• Coach Certifications
• Administrative fees, and
• Development costs

3. What other fees does a team typically incur?

·         The following fees are not covered by the Association, and do add to the overall budget that a team needs to consider

o   In a typical year teams will attend 2 to 3 tournaments which typically cost $1,000 each

o   Teams will generally purchase a pair of home and away socks for each player which costs approximately $850 for the set

o   Some teams purchase water bottles for each player

o   Teams often budget for year end party’s and gifts

o   Some teams will purchase practice jerseys

4. How much of our money goes towards ice rental?

• Generally 70% or more collected fees go towards ice rental. 
• Valley Wild teams will get 2-3 hours of practice ice and 1.5 hours of game ice per week. 
• We allocate ice for 20 weeks. Ice is the responsibility of the team even if you don't use it.
• This means the ice budget you could expect is between $16,000 and $19,000 per year.

5. What does Coach Certifications mean?

• This fee takes into account all the certifications that coaches are going to have to acquire for the upcoming season. This can include the following items: Criminal Record Check, NCCP-1, and HU-Safety
• We do not want our coaches pay out-of-pocket for these certifications and creating the additional risk of not having certified coaches for our teams, so these costs are a necessary part of the budget. 
• Generally this cost is between $400-$600 per team

6. What does Jersey Supplement mean?

• The jerseys our players wear will not last forever, therefore, to anticipate the costs of replacement jerseys, the association needs to create a surplus in the jersey account through a small amount charged each year through registration. The jerseys are on a 3-5 year cycle and will be replaced on that schedule as determined by the Equipment Coordinator and Executive Committee.
• A set of jerseys costs $3,500 so we charge an annual jersey fee to supplement this cost when required.

7. What are the development fees for?

• The Valley Wild association feels that developing our girls to the best we can is a critically important element of our year.  As such:
• We bring in outside help to provide developement to our players and goalies, and purchase on ice aids to keep challenging our girls, and to provide options for coaches during practices.
• Total development costs per team is approximately $2,000

8. What are the League Fees?

• League fees are what we have to pay to the Nova Scotia Female Hockey League to covers their yearly costs such as game sheets, league championship banners, medallions/trophies/etc, and facility rentals.

9. Why are some fees higher than others? 

• Fees like U15 and U18 are higher than U11 and U13 because they have higher costs associated with items like referees (these levels have increased official’s costs and U18 requires 4 officials instead of 3).
• The cost of officials increases in general with each level of hockey.
• For younger teams this amounts to no less than $750 annually and U15/U18 can be in the $2,000 range.

10. What does the Hockey Nova Scotia Fee include?

• The HNS Fee covers a number of items but the primary component to this is your insurance premium which can be in excess of $1,500 per team annually.

11. What other administration fees are there?

• These are fees the pay for the costs of day-to-day operations, and administration costs from our vendors and include: Kidsport Fee, Team Snap, Other Administration

12. What is a typical overall team budget?

·         We estimate that a team budget can range from $24,000 - $29,000 in a typical year depending on the age and how active the team is.

·         This means that, based on a team of 15 players and 2 goalies, that you could expect to pay between $1,450 and $1,650 per player for the entire year.

???12. Can we fund-raise to pay for registration costs?

• Yes, we appreciate there is significant cost to playing hockey, we allow individuals to fund-raise any amount above and beyond the initial registration fee.
• ?Typical fundraisers include: 50/50, Gift Card Draws, Sponsorship Banners, Online or In-Person Auctions, Raffles, Sponsorship, etc.

Managing the Association is a complex and time-consuming activity.  The fees we charge are an important part of providing the experience we feel our players need to develop.  As part of this process, the Executive reviewed the “all in” costs (including competitive fees, actual ice and referee costs charged to teams, etc.) of other Minor and Female Associations to ensure that the fees we charge are in line with those costs.  As mentioned earlier, ice by far and away makes up the majority of the cost and we budget to the ice costs of the potential arenas we will be allocated ice in.