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Can someone please explain the cost of Brandon minor hockey from initiation to bantam, then a discount at midget?? My kid has never played hockey in Brandon so I find it difficult to spend the extra cash. Shout out to Forrest, Rapid City and Rivers. For all the parents that are worried about the price of gas to these communities, 600.00 buys a lot of gas.

Kinda what i was getting at with my post my boy is getting into it and not sure i want to fork out that much money if he decides he doesnt even want to play

Hockey is not a cheap sport. The cost would be related to ice rental (not cheap in Brandon thru the city rinks, small towns are often subsidised through local organizations, parents also pay each time they enter the rink in small towns where in Brandon you do not), cost of refs, insurance for the kids/coaches, probably fees to Hockey Canada or Hockey Manitoba etc.  
 
It is cheaper in smaller towns, but you would have to ask for a release from Hockey Brandon to be eligible.  
 
I believe there is a weekly program at the Sportsplex that is less expensive.

Yes it is cheaper in the smaller town but Forrest is only taken 16 kids per team and there are rules on the 16. As for other town I have travelled with my sons team for 3 years and never had to pay extra to enter there rinks. Yes there is the Monday night league at the sports pled but talked with the people running it today and they are full for the year. Good luck getting in someplace to play

Just wondering what fees are in brandon?

http://hockeybrandon.net/page.php?page_id=77990  
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Folks,  
The facts remain that a sheet of ice in Brandon costs the same as a sheet of ice in Rivers to maintain because an hour of use is the same in either location. (10 skaters and 2 goalies aside). All I would like to see for the hockey parents is an itemized list of costs which shows where the dollars are going. House league should not subsidize tiered hockey. We all need to be able to account for our dollars spent, so Hockey Brandon, are you up to the accounting challenge? (By the way, all the other rinks outside of the city pay property taxes too!)

Sound like you need to ask for a breakdown of the cost of your fees. See what they say. Making assumptions like house league subsidizing rep without supporting info seems unfair ( probably not accurate).  
 
 
Would suggest that the hockey association does not manage or run the rinks. They rent the ice. Ice prices are higher in Brandon than most other communities. Also places with natural ice (forest,rapid city) have seasons that are half as long and are run on volunteers.

As a parent who had son play hockey in a rural area the less fees do sound great at the start of the year as is a shock to see the Hockey Brandon fees for a season of hockey. However, if did figure out the real cost of driving there is little difference. Forrest and Rapid City cannot be compared as they are small natural ice rinks. Rivers is a great rink. It is 50 kms to Rivers which is 100 kms round trip. If you figure this out for 2 practises and 1 game a week over the 6 month season you will be putting on approx. 12,000 kms on your vehicle. Also if your time is worth anything you also are at least an hour more than if you were in Brandon. (240 hrs approx)  
 
This is just to Rivers as would be your closest games. Ice rental in Brandon is very expensive which inflates the fees.

To answer the original post.  
The cost greatly increases from initiation to Novice because they now play games (1.5 hrs) and have to pay for refs) Initiation there are 3 teams on the ice at once and no games, skill based practices only. The cost goes up again with every level, more practices, and 3 man-ref systems compared to a 2 man in younger groups. The cost goes down again for Midget becasue there are less games and less practices because at the that age the kids have other interests (school sports, jobs etc) and don't want to commit so much on hockey. Now Rep Hockey costs are scary but its your choice to play that.  
The real problem in Brandon is that we only have 1 City Rink (Sportsplex), thus are held prisioner to the Keystone, and they don't really care about costs because they could rent it out to other events without the ice. The rates they charge are one of the highest in Western Canada and they go up every year. We need more City Rinks to get the costs down, but never a good political vote getter in Brandon when you talk about increases to taxes to pay for a rink(s).

RunningScared said "To answer the original post.   The cost greatly increases from initiation to Novice because they now play games (1.5 hrs) and have to pay for refs) Initiation there are 3 teams on the ice at once and no games, skill based practices only. The cost goes up again with every level, more practices, and 3 man-ref systems compared to a 2 man in younger groups. The cost goes down again for Midget becasue there are less games and less practices because at the that age the kids have other interests (school sports, jobs etc) and don't want to commit so much on hockey. Now Rep Hockey costs are scary but its your choice to play that.   The real problem in Brandon is that we only have 1 City Rink (Sportsplex), thus are held prisioner to the Keystone, and they don't really care about costs because they could rent it out to other events without the ice. The rates they charge are one of the highest in Western Canada and they go up every year. We need more City Rinks to get the costs down, but never a good political vote getter in Brandon when you talk about increases to taxes to pay for a rink(s). "

I am very VERY familiar with the cost of the Keystone Centre's ice. This isn't a case of one being 'held prisoner' by the other.  
 
I can tell with 100% certainty you that the rate charged to minor sports group, is less than their cost of operations for that same hour of ice (the minor rental rate is around $12 cheaper than the actual cost for the facility). Water, propane, hydro for the lights, water heaters, air heaters, and labour are incredibly expensive.  
 
It is a large facility with a lot of overhead expenses that aren't experienced in smaller one rink facilities. So it isn't fair to compare it to Rivers, Kilarney, Souris...or even some of the single rink barns in bigger cities. When the cost of ice rental is compared with other 'similar' facilities, the price point is fairly close, sometimes even lower.  
 
The real problem is that the facility is aging and has no capital budget to cover upgrades to the ice plant. This causes the plant to run at a higher cost than a newer facility would.

visit http://www.thefirstshift.ca/program-locator/  
 
It i:ncludes the ice time and Full equipment (from Bauer) for about $200.  
If you have never played hockey and are between the ages of 6yrs-10yrs old this is the program for you!!! i:ncluded in this 6 week program is full equipment top to bottom.  
We are excited that they have chosen Brandon for 2 sessions this year, one in the fall and again in the new year.  
The Welcome Event, for the fall session, will be on Thursday, October 20th, 2016. There will most likely be one Tuesday, Nov. 1st but the other 5 sessions will run on Mondays from Nov. 7-Dec.5  
Registration for this program will open June 10th.  
 
No brainer in my opinion.

http://hockeybrandon.net/files/bylaw_20163.docx  
 
HB House League (A2) teams don't subsidize single roster Rep Teams (A1)  
 
Kids on Rep teams pay the same initial HB fee and would receive jerseys, insurance and the same amount of paid ice allocation for practice as the A2 kids.  
 
Rep teams pay all additional costs, including additional ice time for practices, tier and league fees on their own. As they get older the costs increase.  
 
Double roster rep teams in Novice and Atom get jerseys. They pay for all costs including all ice time for games and practices, tier fees and whatever else they get on their own.

But we played against Brandon teams last year and after their league home games they only got about 4 or 5 ice times for practice. Someone who knows the costs of ice and refs said the house league subsidizes the higher tiers and the math certainly seemed to bear this out.

What specific subsidy do you believe House players pay for Rep teams?

Sam5 said "But we played against Brandon teams last year and after their league home games they only got about 4 or 5 ice times for practice. Someone who knows the costs of ice and refs said the house league subsidizes the higher tiers and the math certainly seemed to bear this out. "

I coached a couple of house league teams last year and had a lot more than 4 or 5 practices. The peewee and bantam aged kids don't get as many practices as they are practicing on full ice. As for the rep teams being subsidized bu house league, that is false. Rep teams are allocated ice time by Hockey Brandon but are not paid for by HB. The teams have to pay for the ice. Do you have any idea what team fees are to play on the rep teams? They are very high. Mostly to cover their ice times. Ever tried to rent extra ice in Brandon during the winter? There is none. The price could be much higher to play in Brandon if HB was in the business to make money.