In small towns across the country, long before the sun rises, the heartbeat of Canadian culture begins to stir. It hums in the frosty stillness of community arenas, echoes through the clang of puck against boards and the scratch of blades on ice. 

For many, it looks like a bundled-up parent scraping frost off a windshield at 4:45 a.m. It sounds like the soft murmur of a coach offering encouragement to a nervous player, and it feels like the cold metal of skate hooks digging into hands as a dad tightens the last lace on his son’s skates.

Hockey, Canada’s official winter sport, is a way of life, an identity forged on frozen ponds and in local rinks. Behind every slapshot and goal celebration lies a quieter, equally powerful story: the dedication of the parents, volunteers and coaches who make it all possible.

The Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) has more than 30,000 active players of a wide range of ages. Mike DiNunno, a hockey parent and former coach of his son’s Aurora Tigers under-18 AA team, spoke to the Toronto Observer about the sacrifices parents make for their kids to play hockey.

The financial cost

Hockey is an expensive sport to play, as there are many pieces of equipment to purchase to play. Skates, a helmet, and a stick can cost a player — or their parents — a lot of money.

“As a parent, when they (his kids) were younger, things were less costly,” DiNunno said. “But as they grew and developed in higher levels of hockey, therefore, equipment cost more, and tournaments and registration fees cost more, so it was pretty hard to accomplish then. You didn’t want to let them down.”

Even signing up to play in a league incurs costs. For the Aurora Minor Hockey Association (AMHA), the registration fee for this year for U8 and above players is $975.00.

A matter of time

A lot of parents also have to sacrifice their time in order to put their kids into hockey.

“You would work extra hours, you did what you had to do, work weekends, still taking them to hockey, juggling with work back and forth. Sometimes you wouldn’t eat your dinner because you had to bring them to a practice or had to bring them to a game,” DiNunno said.

“(Non-hockey) parents don’t see that part of what goes into it,” Mike DiNunno said.

Giancarlo DiNunno, 18, Mike DiNunno’s eldest son, understood and appreciated the sacrifices his dad made for him and his brother to both play hockey. 

“There are many sacrifices that he made,” Giancarlo DiNunno said. “There are financial sacrifices; equipment, tournaments, and stuff like that cost a big amount of money, and it’s not easy for everybody to afford.”

A coach’s sacrifice

In addition to the financial and time costs, Mike DiNunno also signed up and joined his son’s bench as a part of the coaching staff for his son Anthony’s team. This took a lot out of Mike DiNunno, as practices and games would be right after work, which means not having the chance to go home before coaching.

He said he did it for the love of his son and wanted him to grow as a hockey player. But coaches often lose out on family time due to coaching, as they are on the ice multiple times a week with practices and games.

“[Most people] don’t see the sacrifice in the evening because they’re enjoying their families,” Mike DiNunno said. “But they don’t see what you’re doing on the back end, of sacrificing your own family, but also ensuring that their kid is treated 100 per cent with respect, practices are organized, tournaments are organized, games are organized, and everything is organized.”

Giancarlo DiNunno said his dad was always trying to be there for him and his brother, to help them become the best they could be.

“He was always just trying to be there for us and make us the best. Not just hockey players, but people that he can make us into, and that only comes by tough love and teaching us discipline,” Giancarlo DiNunno said.  

“Thanks, Dad, for everything you’ve done for me, and when I have my own kid, I’m going to do the same,” Giancarlo said.

This story is part of the Toronto Observer’s Our Canada feature package. Check out more stories and videos.