OGDEN, Utah — What does 11-year-old A.J. Ellinwood enjoy about playing hockey?
“Everything,” she replied. “The people in hockey are nice. The coaches are nice. Playing hockey is nice.
“It’s one of the best sports.”
Ellinwood and other young hockey players skated around the Weber County Ice Sheet at a recent practice. Outfitting each player with skates, sticks and the gear in between would cost hundreds of dollars with all new gear.
But youth hockey parents and benefactors, who have been in the sport since before the NHL team arrived in Salt Lake City to boost interest in the game, have a few tricks for saving money.
The first trick: Don Korth’s shed.
The shed's interior looks like a cross between an NHL locker room and Dr. Frankenstein’s lab with shelves full of skates, helmets and pads. Sticks line the walls and spill into the backyard of Korth’s West Jordan home.
“You can’t do what I do with just one piece of equipment,” said Korth, an 81-year-old retired firefighter. "You got to have lots of different equipment.”
Korth has been outfitting young hockey players for decades and operates a nonprofit to support his efforts.
Players come to the house where Korth sizes them up at a picnic table in the backyard. Other kids get fitted at one of Korth’s gear exchanges which he holds in conjunction with youth leagues from Logan to Cedar City; and from Vernal to Elko, Nevada, which are promoted on social media or websites.
In all, Korth estimates he outfits more than 500 hockey players a year — for free. He will ask that families return the gear after the season or when the player grows out of it.
Such exchanges, or swaps where families can buy or trade used gear, are big cost savers, especially for children just starting hockey and who aren’t sure if they will like it.
Jacob Splan has three kids playing hockey in leagues run by Salt Lake County.
“The registration fees and ice time is comparable to lacrosse or football,” Splan said, “couple hundred bucks for the season.”
Some counties and support organizations offer scholarships and aid to help families afford to play.
There can be other costs, too. A 2019 report by the Aspen Institute found youth ice hockey was the most expensive of the team sports, costing families $2,583 annually for one child.
Much of those expenses include transportation and camps or lessons. But most families are content with teams with one practice and one game per week rather than privately-operated traveling teams with rigorous schedules.
“Plenty of fun,” Splan said of the more casual leagues. “The county does a great job.”
Korth, who also coached hockey, now has two great-grandsons he has outfitted with hockey gear.
“And that’s really one of my main goals,” he said, “is to keep you in hockey forever.”
