DVHL Team Fees: What have we learned?

Many of you know I've been building a database of information on youth ice hockey teams. The Beeski Youth Hockey Database is intended to be a tool to help parents compare season fees and features (like practice time, games, training, etc.) and compare them side-by-side for different programs.

As we enter the third week of April and the start of Tier II evaluations, I thought it would make sense to take a look at how various programs stack up. At this point, I have data on fees from all but 7 of the teams in the DVHL (I'm not including Ed Snider Hockey, since that program is free to city residents). Let's look at the numbers.

Sidebar: Remember that I'm relying on public sources for this data - i.e., the programs' websites. I'm surprised that 7 clubs still haven't posted their information this close to evaluations. It's likely that parents will be asked to drop a few hundred dollars at evaluations for the deposit. How can they do that when they don't even know what the total bill will be?

Okay, for the teams that have posted their information, I looked at the fees by age group. I looked at Mite, Squirt, Peewee, Bantam, and Midget and calculated the average fees by program for each age group. Then I ranked them to get these stats:

5 Most expensive programs (by average rank across age groups):
Grundy Senators (5)
Delco Phantoms (5)
Bristol Blazers (3)
Valley Forge Colonials (4)
Exton Kings (2)

The numbers in parentheses are the number of times each team was ranked in the top 5 most expensive teams in an age group. For example, Grundy and Delco were two of the top 5 most expensive in every age group. Exton was ranked in the top 5 for two of the age groups but not the others.

Not in the top 5 most expensive overall, but ranked in the top 5 at certain age groups:
Haverford Hawks (3)
Ice Dogs (1)
Warwick Wildcats (1)
Palmyra Black Knights (1)

5 Least expensive programs (by average rank across age groups):
Chester County Cougars (5)
Pottstown Penguins (3)
Regency Panthers (5)
Wilkes Barre Jr. Penguins (3)
Delaware Jr. Blue Hens (2)

Similar to above, the numbers in parentheses are the number of times each team was ranked in the 5 least expensive teams in an age group. Note that the Chester County Cougars have a little different structure than most teams. Their hockey fees are low, but there's also a club membership that has to be paid. That membership fee is not included in my numbers. Also, the Pottstown Penguins only have teams at 3 age levels, so all of their teams are actually in the bottom 5.

Not in the 5 least expensive overall, but ranked in the bottom 5 at certain age groups:
Lancaster Firebirds (2)
Delaware Stars (1)
York Devils (2)
Delaware Ducks (1)

Palmyra Black Knights (1)

Average fees by age group for the 2014-15 DVHL season:
Mite: $922
Squirt: $1,642
Peewee: $1,783
Bantam: $1,843
Midget: $1,812


So there you have it. Be sure to check out the Beeski Youth Hockey Database to get the full picture. This information on fees is interesting, but you really need to see what you get for those fees to make an even comparison. The information and level of detail that clubs share on what you get for the money is pretty hit or miss by program. Some are great and share a lot of detail, others share hardly an at all. But everything I've been able to find is out there on the BYHD.


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