“I never really learned how to skate. I remember my uncle tried to teach me, and I just kept falling. It was the most embarrassing, frustrating day, and I never tried it again. I regret that! I don’t know if I would have played hockey anyway, because it’s such an expensive sport. But I always loved, and still love, watching it.”
For journalist and broadcaster Julian McKenzie, and for so many other kids who grew up in Montreal, hockey is a cultural cornerstone, woven into the fabric of the city and country at large. It’s also one of the more expensive sports to pursue.
Between gear and league registration fees, playing hockey costs hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars per year, per kid. Because of those financial barriers disproportionately affecting kids from immigrant families, hockey has always had a representation problem.
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