I have always thought just the opposite, at least initially its seems as if it was mostly blue collar types who lived in areas where cold winters are the norm. Perhaps that is different now. When you think about it though, what professional sport could not be called “privileged?” Most recruit from college sports, and generally unless there on a sports scholarship, most are privileged. And please note I said generally and most not all. I do like hockey, but not on television. For me it is a sport that must be viewed in real life. The fighting is a bit of unnecessary theatre but other than that, I think the skill level is spectacular.

I went to a state school in a very ordinary area of Manchester, UK and we played hockey. It was one of the mandatory games we had to play. My children had the opportunity to play hockey here in Australia too. One liked it. The others didn’t. They didn’t go to private schools. I’ve never considered it to be an elite sport. Polo, yes. Hockey, no.

You do mean ice hockey? @Bellatrix – did you play ice hockey?? Not too many females do, that would be great!

No, I mean hockey. He asked about hockey. No mention of ‘ice’ up there.

NHL is National Hockey League, which is ice hockey. In the USA field hockey is referred to as just that, field hockey. It is mostly played by high school girls, not exclusively but more than boys and as far as I know there is no big league field hockey and I doubt that ESPN is broadcast much of it!!

When we were kids we would play every winter when the ponds froze over. I know a lot of people who lost teeth that way. That’s why I don’t necessarily think it is a privileged sport.

Interesting insights!

She meant “ice hockey”, @Bellatrix. In the USA unmodified “hockey” generally refers to the version played with skates and on ice. Field hockey is known as a girls’ sport (coast-to-coast here, as far as I know), and has to be specified as “field” hockey, or the frozen kind would be presumed.

I agree with @rooeytoo‘s original statement that the game is a kind of blue-collar game, or at least played by blue-collar types. The guys who play ice hockey are generally tremendous athletes. Very few peewees make it into the sport, and no 300-pounders. To play at the pro level takes not only athletic skill and durability – including the ability to handle and shoot the puck, and the durability to be hit with it from time to time on hard shots – but a high degree of acceptance of all kinds of personal injury, including the gumption to take punches thrown by opposing players.

The joke around this sport is, “I went to watch the fights last night, and a hockey game broke out.” There is a tremendous amount of punching and deliberate rough play in this sport, penalized (when it is penalized at all) by 2-minute penalty time-outs (for the player) leaving the team shorthanded on the ice. Those same infractions in other pro sports would have players suspended or ejected from their respective leagues.

It’s a tough sport played at the pro level by very tough guys. I don’t consider it at all “privileged”.

What the puck? yeah, I went there
I wouldn’t have thought so, there’s not much expense involved & i’d imagine it’s open to all, if you’re good enough then you’re in.
Nearly all “privileged” sports are of the equine variety, show jumping/dressage etc.

It is here in Florida. Not much ice to be found unless you pay for the refrigerated roller rink. ^_^

I guess I can see arguments on both sides, but my initial response would be to say that it is privileged, because ice hockey requires a great deal more equipment than say… soccer/football.

It’s privileged in the time and effort it requires from the entire family. When the kid gets involved at a young age it takes a serious commitment from everyone. But it is a great game. :)

How about an answer of “sort of”.

Hockey requires equipment – skates, pads, helmet, stick, pucks, etc. None of those are particularly cheap. They are certainly more expensive than a bat and a ball, or an orange basketball, or a pigskin football. And a lot of that (skates, pads, helmet) is required for each player – not a community resource like a baseball bat.

So right off the bat, the player has to be from an environment where either the family or the community can afford the equipment. Does that make it privileged? Maybe. It definitely makes it expensive.

Then there’s the question of where to skate. Unless you live in the far northern US, your ponds don’t freeze in winter. So if you are going to play, you need an ice skating rink. Either your community has built a rink (take Cleveland Heights Ohio as an example) or you have to pay for a commercial rink. In any event, there has to be enough money to build and maintain the rink, along with cooling, heating, insurance, and so on.

That all takes money as well.

So does that make it privileged? Again, maybe.

Hockey is a more costly sport that a lot of others,

Arguably privileged, undeniably played by neanderthals…at least professionally.

When I think of a privileged sport I think about golf, not hockey. The rinks in our area are visited by many blue collar families. Our daughter took ice skating lessons at the rink near our home and she was going to join the kids hockey team, but then we moved. The closest rink is over an hour away now. She was really looking forward to playing. :( I do know that much of the equipment that is needed was available for the kids. We didn’t even have to buy ice skates. We’ve had to buy more equipment for her to play softball this year than we would have had to buy if she played hockey.

My friends/family members who have enrolled their children in hockey claim that it is the most expensive sport to play.

So I would claim that it is generally limited to the upper-middle class.

It seems like a lot of blue collar families support their children in (ice) hockey by scraping together money to buy the expensive equipment. I have seen families buy used equipment at a deep discount. I know it’s expensive but I don’t think of it as a “privileged” sport, like I would think of golf, tennis or horseback riding, all of which involve not only expensive equipment but expensive time on the links, court, ring.

Yes, along with equestrian, skiing, and lacrosse lol.

It may be a privileged sport in a lot of places, but not in Canada, eh? It’s our national sport, and if you live here for more than two hours, you’ll probably be introduced to it in some way or another, young or old, rich or poor.

Although we’re not as bad as some places in the UK when it comes to their football/soccer, Montréal has seen its share of riots whenever our hockey team loses. which is all the fucking time, lawl

I don’t necessarily think of tennis as privileged. There are free courts everywhere in the USA. Every school has them and nets are up and ready. All you need is a racquet and a ball. And it is a rare family that doesn’t have a couple of racquets lying about. If you want to take lessons and play at a private club, that is a different story. But just going out to have a hit is accessible to practically everyone. In NYC, the free handball courts make great practice spots.

I was astounded when I moved to Australia, there are no free and open courts here. If they don’t have a lock on the gate, they lock up the nets! I couldn’t believe it. So here it is more privileged.

You can imagine my obliviousness as I’m located 15 minutes away from Tijuana!

@Symbeline: Oh, I thought your national sport was curling. Don’t hit me :-p

(thwacks @bookish1)

Being Canadian, hockey is basically engrained into us whilst still in the womb…dontcha know.
I agree with those who stated it is somewhat privileged. It does end up costing quite a bit financially and time-wise. However, there are programs to help families who have financial difficulties…just to be able to play hockey (their children). This usually involves equipment donations, carpools to practice/games, and even meals.
I wanted to play hockey as a kid but they didn’t allow girls. So I had to play ringette (hockey with rubber rings and cut off sticks). However, I leisurely played hockey with my brother and his friends.
At one point my father was having money problems and we had to drop out of hockey/ringette. Back then, the charity programs didn’t exist (at least not in our area).
When I think of privileged sports, I tend think of golf, equestrian, lacrosse, tennis, water polo…(a friend of mine calls these sports “rich white man” sports).

Hey, @Symbeline please don’t go there, rioting football fans here in the Yoo Kay is really no more than a myth. Fans bashing each others tiny fucking brains in & generally making arseholes of themselves, is very much a thing of the past
I could go on to produce blah blah lots of stats & bang on about blah blah blah, but I won’t…nuff sed sistah :)

Takes a lot of nerve for a guy from a place where rugby was born to call NHL players neanderthals!!!

When rugby players fight on the pitch it’s immediately broken up & fines/suspensions are handed out, hockey players are left to get on with it, hence my nerve :)

@ucme I’m thinking of Scotland mostly, although Ireland may be included. I’ve seen videos and news footage or riots and break outs, although I grant you that, they did look pretty dated.

And lol hockey. They do fight, but not for very long. Mostly sometimes I think the reffs are too scared to try and break it up; but don’t think for a second that brutal hockey players don’t face consequences or don’t get penalized.

@bookish1 My national sport is Viking. :D

Rugby team in NZ just was fined 15,000 because a player stood there and peed through his pants on the field! I can’t find the video of it, but here is a still of it. At least he didn’t drop his drawers, just peed right through them, ewwwwwwwwwwwwww.

And you call NHL guys neanderthals!!!

Hockey is more privileged than basketball or baseball for example, but if you want to play street ball it doesn’t have to be too expensive. The one’s who had to spend the most then are the kids who play goal. The equipment does get expensive fast, but I know that places that have a good hockey community has cheap hand-me-downs that can be purchased (I wish this was the case when I was a kid though, I really wanted to play ice hockey and not just street hockey).

@Symbeline Montréal may lose much of the time now (although they did well this season), but 24 Cups says they don’t lose all the time. I’ll give you that it has been 20 years since the last one though.

@Plucky I’ve never understood why women weren’t allowed to play hockey but were allowed to play ringette for quite a time in Canada. Always seemed to be a goofy standard. As for hockey being engrained into Canadians from the womb; I have a Canadian friend who I had to teach the rules of hockey because he never cared to learn it when he was younger. I always tell him he’s a disgrace to Canada.

@amujinx Je me souviens, indeed. XD

@Symbeline Very dated, plagued the game in the seventies & eighties, a few good movies were made, very funny as it happens. If the refs are scared to step in on fisticuffs then that marks them out as stripy pussies…quite a novelty.
@rooeytoo Singling out an isolated incident from another nation whilst dramatically repeating an accusation relating to my home country is really pretty weak logic.

I didn’t make any accusations, you called NHL players neanderthals because they fight. Better fighting than peeing on the field of play!!!

calls time out & plays organ for the lulz.