This blog is a collection of my thoughts and experiences from ten years as a skate dad. For those of you sitting with your jackets in the bleachers, first I salute you, but second I want to give you an honest sense of what you are in for and what to expect. Ice skating is both a trying and a glorious sport, but it doesn't happen without the special group of folks who cheer, support, and console the participants. This is dedicated to you.


Monday, July 15, 2019

- rationalizing the expense


I spent eight hundred dollars on skates today for my daughter. It wasn't a big deal, but at the same time that shows how far I've become acclimated to the whole socialization and industry of skating. I don't question the value, for considering the effort that goes into making the boots and the blades, and given a reasonable markup for everyone involved in the process, I suppose that the price is fair enough. And yet a little voice lingers at the back of my head that says "hey, I only pay one hundred dollars a year for my own health club membership." Sigh. Well, I suppose it's the privilege of having a daughter.

The issue with raising daughters of course is that, as a father, you are responsible for setting the tone of their demeanor; you create an aura of approval or disapproval about how they present themselves to men. So to an extent supporting ice skating is a statement: a stamp of approval to a concept and an approach. You are saying Go for the grace, Go for the art, A positive work ethic is admirable. $800? A bargain at even twice the price.

(repost and ed. note: this was fifteen years ago. . . what do new skates cost today?)

Posted by Jeff Chapman at 10:30 AM
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2 comments:

  1. sk8rmom.pNovember 12, 2013 at 9:22 PM

    We pay about $600 for boots and $575 for blades for a Novice level skater. Stock boots, and MK blades. Nothing fancy, very functional. It has been about that much for the past three years for us.

    Last year we went through three pairs of boots, the first pair lasted about 3 months, the second pair was a custom boot and different blades that did not work at all, but my skater wore them for 5 months (we changed the blades back to original brand, but different size...of course), then the last pair a different brand again (which work--hooray!).

    The cost that year, three different pairs of boots and four pairs of blades {gasp}!

    I guess that means we really gave our stamp of approval huh?!

    Thanks for your blog. Been lurking more than a year I think now.

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    Replies
    1. Jeff ChapmanNovember 13, 2013 at 5:19 PM

      Hi Sk8rmom, and thanks for the price update! Seems reasonable for 15 years of inflation LOL. I'd imagine it won't be long before somebody figures out how to custom ''print" boots and blades out of Carbon fiber and aluminum. Not that they'll be any cheaper. . .

      Thanks both for sharing and reading the blog!

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