Your logo on our team Instagram isn't necessarily worth $500.
I work in marketing and partnerships, and there's something about youth hockey sponsorships that I think we need to reconsider.
We tend to approach small businesses with the assumption that offering them visibility is inherently valuable.
We'll put your logo on our jerseys.
We'll thank you on Instagram.
We'll include your business on a tournament banner.
And in exchange, we'd like $500.
But what exactly is the business getting?
If the team Instagram account is followed primarily by parents and players who already know one another, what meaningful audience is the business reaching?
If the tournament banner is seen by people who have no reason to purchase from the business, what's the actual benefit?
And if nobody remembers the company after seeing its logo, did that exposure accomplish anything?
I'm not suggesting that these sponsorship benefits are completely worthless.
For some businesses, community recognition genuinely matters.
But I think we've become far too comfortable treating visibility as though it's automatically valuable simply because we're offering it.
It isn't.
And I say that as someone who's spent years working in marketing.
Exposure only has commercial value when it serves an objective.
For a small business, that might mean bringing in customers, generating sales, building relationships with local families or getting people to try something they wouldn't have.
A logo on a youth hockey Instagram account doesn't necessarily accomplish any of those things.
So before telling a business what you're prepared to give it, perhaps we should be asking what would actually be useful.
Stop approaching every business on the street.
I think we've all seen this happen.
A team needs sponsors.
Parents are asked to approach businesses.
And suddenly everyone is walking into restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores and service providers asking for money.
Sometimes they're approaching businesses they've never purchased from.
Businesses they don't have any relationship with.
Businesses they know absolutely nothing about.
The only qualification seems to be that the company has a storefront and might be willing to write a cheque.
I think that's a pretty strange approach when you consider what we're actually asking.
We're expecting a business to invest in our child's hockey experience when we haven't demonstrated any interest in supporting that business ourselves.
And often, we're offering very little in return.
If you've never supported a business, why should you automatically expect that business to support your child's hockey team?
I'm not saying you need to become a customer before you're allowed to approach someone.
But I do think teams should be more thoughtful about which businesses they contact and why.
Rather than sending 15 parents into the community to ask everyone for $500, what if the team sat down and identified five businesses it could genuinely support in return?
What do those businesses actually need?
More customers?
Help with something time-consuming?
A reliable group of people purchasing from them throughout the season?
Maybe the best sponsorship opportunity isn't the business most likely to give you money.
Maybe it's the business where the team can create the most value.
What if we started thinking about what the team can give back?
This is where I think youth sports sponsorships could become considerably more interesting.
Because a team isn't just a group of kids who need money.
It's also a community of families.
Parents who own homes, purchase groceries, visit restaurants, buy birthday cakes, drink coffee, use local services and spend money in their communities every day.
And when those families work together, they have the potential to create meaningful value for local businesses.
Imagine approaching a neighbourhood bakery.
Instead of asking for $500 in exchange for a logo on Instagram, the team proposes something different.
The bakery contributes toward tournament costs.
In return, participating families commit to considering the bakery for their birthday cakes, cupcakes, holiday treats and other celebrations throughout the season.
Maybe the team organizes its year-end party and purchases desserts from the bakery too.
Suddenly, the business isn't simply donating money.
It's developing relationships with local families who might become repeat customers.
Or consider a neighbourhood restaurant.
What if participating families organized a rotating weekly takeout night throughout the hockey season?
One family orders dinner each week, with everyone taking turns.
For a small restaurant, that's a potentially more meaningful benefit than having its logo appear in a few social media posts.
And it's spending families may already have been planning to do.
The key is that the team follows through.
A promise to support a business is only valuable if someone actually does it.
Not every exchange needs to involve money.
I think this is where teams could get particularly creative.
What does a small business need that a group of hockey families could reasonably help provide?
Maybe it's something as simple as washing windows.
Imagine a local storefront agrees to sponsor a team's season.
In return, participating players and parents organize a schedule to wash the shop's exterior windows throughout the spring and summer.
The team divides the responsibility across families, with appropriate adult supervision and agreement on the work involved.
The business receives a service it would otherwise need to arrange or pay for.
The players contribute time and effort toward their own hockey expenses.
And the sponsorship becomes an actual exchange rather than a request for a donation.
Or maybe a local coffee shop becomes a team partner.
Instead of promising social media exposure, a group of parents who already purchase coffee regularly agree to make that shop part of their routine.
Maybe a few parents stop in after morning practices.
Maybe others choose it for meetings or weekend coffee runs.
A gym or fitness studio could be another opportunity.
Perhaps a few parents are already considering changing memberships. If the facility genuinely suits their needs, they could choose to support a business that's supporting their team.
The important distinction is that none of this should involve pressuring families to spend money they wouldn't otherwise spend or commit to services they don't need.
But if that spending is already happening, why not consider directing some of it toward a business that's helping make the season possible?
Sometimes the most valuable thing a team can offer isn't advertising. It's actual customers, actual purchases or actual help.
This requires more strategy than asking everyone for sponsors.
I think this is where the approach to sponsorship needs to change.
Rather than giving every parent a sponsorship letter and asking them to approach businesses, what if the team had an actual conversation about potential partnerships?
Which businesses do families already support?
Are there business owners with a genuine connection to the team?
Which companies have products or services families regularly purchase?
What could the team realistically offer in return?
And who would be responsible for making sure those commitments happen?
Because there's a big difference between telling a business that hockey families will support it and actually creating a plan to make that happen.
Maybe one parent coordinates the rotating restaurant orders.
Another organizes the bakery purchases for team events.
A few families volunteer to manage a schedule of appropriate community-service activities.
And someone keeps track of whether the team is delivering what it promised.
That doesn't need to become a complicated operation.
But it does require more thought than simply collecting cheques.
I'd also want the arrangement approved by the appropriate team or association representatives, especially if it involves players performing work, business advertising, payments or organizational commitments.
And any activity involving children needs to be age-appropriate, voluntary, supervised and consistent with applicable safety requirements.
The point is to create a useful exchange, not additional obligations that families or children are uncomfortable taking on.
Small businesses don't owe youth hockey anything.
I think this still needs to be said.
Small businesses are approached constantly for sponsorships, donations, raffle prizes and fundraising contributions.
Not just by hockey teams.
By schools, charities, dance studios, soccer clubs and countless other organizations.
And there's often an assumption that because someone owns a business, they have money available to give away.
But revenue isn't profit.
And profit isn't necessarily cash available to spend.
There are business owners prioritizing payroll and operating expenses while not consistently paying themselves.
There are leadership teams working long hours to keep their companies financially stable.
And there are businesses that genuinely care about their communities but simply can't afford another financial commitment.
A small business shouldn't have to justify why it can't help pay for someone else's hockey season.
And I don't think youth sports organizations should make declining a sponsorship request feel like refusing to support children.
If a business wants to give money without receiving anything in return, that's wonderful.
But it should be a choice.
Not an expectation.
The best sponsorship might not look like a traditional sponsorship.
I think there's a lot of opportunity for hockey teams to rethink what partnership actually means.
A traditional sponsorship might involve a cheque, a logo and a thank-you post.
And sometimes, that's enough.
But I suspect there are plenty of small businesses that would be much more interested in a relationship that brings them customers, reduces an expense or helps solve a problem.
That's also a more interesting lesson for young athletes.
Instead of simply asking businesses to contribute toward their season, players can participate in creating something of value in return.
They can learn that partnerships involve responsibilities on both sides.
That someone's time, money and resources have value.
And that asking for support should involve considering what the other person needs, not just what you want.
I also think teams need to be realistic about the financial commitments they're making in the first place.
Sponsorship shouldn't become the automatic solution every time another tournament or development opportunity gets added to the budget.
Sometimes reducing expenses is the more responsible decision.
But when sponsorship does make sense, I'd love to see teams move beyond the idea that putting a logo somewhere is enough.
If you're asking a business to invest in your team, spend some time figuring out how your team can invest in that business.
Maybe we need to stop asking for sponsorships and start proposing partnerships.
I don't think hockey families need to stop approaching small businesses.
But I do think they need to approach them differently.
Stop assuming that every business has money available.
Stop assuming that exposure is automatically valuable.
And stop sending parents up and down the street asking companies they have no relationship with to help fund another hockey season.
Instead, think about what the business actually needs.
Consider what your team can realistically contribute.
Build relationships with businesses that make sense for your community.
And make sure everyone understands what they're agreeing to.
Because a good partnership shouldn't leave one side feeling like it made a donation while the other walks away believing it delivered meaningful marketing value.
The goal shouldn't be to find businesses willing to give your team money. It should be to create relationships where supporting your team also makes sense for the business.
That's a sponsorship conversation I'd be much more interested in seeing youth hockey have.
For more guidance on hockey sponsorships, fundraising and athlete partnerships, visit the Player Partnerships Parents Hub.