Why Hockey Costs What It Costs
Before you can set a single sub, you need to be honest about what the season actually costs - and hockey is not a cheap sport to run. Unlike a sport that can train on a free patch of grass, hockey lives on the astroturf, and astro hire is the single biggest line in most club budgets. Add to that umpire fees for matches, England Hockey affiliation, balls and pitch consumables that wear out faster than you would think, league entry fees, insurance and a contingency for the things that always crop up, and the total climbs quickly.
None of that is a reason to apologise for your fees. A club is not trying to turn a profit - you are trying to cover your costs and keep playing. But it does mean the conversation about subs has to start with a clear-eyed budget, not a number plucked from the air or copied from the club down the road whose costs are nothing like yours.
Subs Versus Match Fees: What Is the Difference?
Most hockey clubs charge a blend of two things, and it helps to be clear about why. A season sub (sometimes split into termly or monthly instalments) covers the fixed costs you carry whether or not any individual player turns out on a given Saturday - affiliation, insurance, regular training-pitch hire, coaching. A match fee is a smaller, per-game charge that covers the variable costs of actually playing a fixture: the umpires and the matchday pitch.
The split matters because it keeps things fair. A player who trains every week and plays most matches contributes properly through their sub; an occasional player who turns out three times a season pays match fees for the games they actually play, rather than a full sub for a season they barely used. Season subs also give the treasurer predictable, plannable income - exactly the kind of recurring payment that suits Direct Debit - while match fees flex naturally with attendance. For most clubs, a modest sub plus a per-match fee is the fairest and most common model.
How to Set Your Subs
If you are setting or reviewing fees, do not guess. Work it out in order, on paper, and you will end up with a number you can defend to any member who asks.
How to set your subs in 5 steps
- 1. List every cost for the whole season. Astro and training-pitch hire, umpire fees, England Hockey affiliation, league entry, balls and consumables, insurance, coaching, and a contingency line of around 10% for surprises. Be thorough - the costs you forget are the ones that put you in the red in March.
- 2. Split fixed costs from per-match costs. Fixed costs (affiliation, training hire, insurance) become your sub; per-game costs (umpires, matchday pitch) become your match fee. This is what makes the two-part model work.
- 3. Divide by realistic numbers. Divide the fixed total by your number of paying members to get the sub, and the per-match costs by a realistic average squad size to get the match fee. Use honest attendance figures, not best-case ones.
- 4. Add concessions and instalments. Decide your reduced rates - juniors, students, second-claim or non-playing members - and offer the sub in monthly or termly instalments. Affordability keeps people in the club, and a player who can pay £15 a month will often drop out if asked for £150 in one go.
- 5. Be transparent and put it in writing. Tell members what the fees are, what they cover and when they are due. A one-line breakdown ("your sub covers affiliation, insurance and training pitch; match fees cover umpires and matchday astro") heads off almost every grumble before it starts.
The Real Problem Is Not Setting Fees - It Is Collecting Them
Here is the part every treasurer knows in their bones: working out the fee is the easy bit. Collecting it is the slog. Cash in an envelope gets forgotten, lost or paid in coins you then have to count and bank. Bank transfers arrive with no reference so you cannot tell who paid. And chasing the handful of players who always seem to be three weeks behind turns a volunteer role into a part-time debt-collection job - usually carried out by text message, late at night, by someone who just wanted to help the club.
It is also one of the most common reasons good volunteers walk away. The coaching is the reward; the chasing is the punishment. Anything that removes the chase without making players feel hounded is worth its weight in gold to a club.
How Digital Collection Fixes the Chase
The fix is to stop relying on cash and memory and let a system do the work. A modern club payment tool collects money digitally, sends automated reminders before a charge is due, and - crucially for the treasurer - keeps a clean, automatic record of who has paid and who has not. No envelope of coins, no unreferenced transfers, no mental list of who still owes for the away game two Saturdays ago.
The most useful feature of all is putting payment status where the selection actually happens. When a player's outstanding balance shows up on the team sheet at the point of selection, the system does the chasing for you - quietly, and without anyone having to send an awkward "you still owe £8" message. Clubs that run a gentle no-pay-no-play approach this way collect the large majority of what they are owed, simply because nothing slips through the cracks.
This is the natural point to mention the tool we know best. Teamo - which, in the interest of being straight with you, is made by Sportplan Ltd, the company behind this site - was built for exactly this job. Its Direct Debit collection runs at 2% + 20p at the time of writing, a lower percentage than card (2.5% + 20p) and cheaper over a season of recurring subs than the card-based collection on platforms like Spond or Pitchero. Auto-pay can bundle a member's subs, match fees and events into a single payment, which saves the fixed 20p that would otherwise be charged on every separate transaction. Live payment status shows on the team sheet at selection, so the system does the chasing and clubs collect the large majority of subs owed. It is private by design, too: team managers see only a treasurer "traffic-light" indicator, never who individually has or has not paid - so a coach picking a side is never put in the position of debt-collector. And for the treasurer's accounts, every payment posts straight through to Xero, which means no spreadsheet to reconcile on a Sunday night.
Concessions, Instalments and Keeping People In
Whatever system you collect with, build in flexibility from the start. Hockey should not price people out. Offer junior, student and concessionary rates, and let members spread the cost over monthly or termly instalments rather than demanding the whole sub up front. Direct Debit makes recurring instalments effortless to administer - the money simply arrives - and a member paying a manageable amount each month is far more likely to stay than one staring down a single large bill in September.
A little flexibility is not a cost to the club; it is what keeps the squad numbers up that pay for the astro in the first place. The clubs that hold onto their members are almost always the ones that made paying easy and affordable.
Clean Records Make a Treasurer's Life Easy
The quiet benefit of digital collection is the one nobody talks about until the AGM: clean records. When every payment is logged automatically against a member's name, the treasurer can see income at a glance, answer "who has paid?" in seconds, and produce end-of-season accounts without a single late night spent matching bank lines to a spreadsheet. If your payment data flows straight into your accounting software, the books almost keep themselves - and the volunteer in the treasurer's chair is far more likely to stand for another year.
Sorting the money is only one part of running a happy club, of course. For the bigger picture, our guide to running a junior hockey team walks through the whole season, and once your subs are flowing it is well worth setting up the Gift Aid claim your club may be due - free money from HMRC that many clubs leave on the table. When it comes to fielding a side each week, our team selection and availability guide shows how to tie selection and payment status together. And when you are ready to get back to the actual hockey, browse the full Hockey drills library for hundreds of practices sorted by skill.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should hockey subs cost?
There is no single right figure - the honest answer is that your subs should cover your costs and no more, because as a club you are not trying to make a profit. Add up everything for the season - astroturf hire, umpire fees, England Hockey affiliation, balls and pitch consumables, league entry and a sensible contingency - then divide by the number of paying members. Many adult club members pay somewhere in the low hundreds of pounds a season once match fees are included, but a junior section will be far less. The key is to work it out from your own budget rather than copying another club's number, and to be transparent about where the money goes.
Should I charge match fees or season subs?
Most hockey clubs use both, and for good reason. A season sub covers the fixed costs you carry whether or not a player turns out - affiliation, training pitch hire, insurance - while a smaller match fee covers the per-game costs of umpires and matchday pitch hire and keeps things fair for players who only play occasionally. Season subs give the treasurer predictable income and are ideal for Direct Debit; match fees flex with attendance. A blend of a modest sub plus a per-match fee is the most common and usually the fairest model.
How do I stop chasing players for hockey fees?
Stop relying on cash and memory. Move to a system that takes payment digitally, sends automated reminders, and shows live payment status against each player's name at selection - so an unpaid balance surfaces on the team sheet rather than in an awkward conversation. When the system does the chasing, clubs collect the large majority of what they are owed and the treasurer gets their evenings back. Offering Direct Debit for recurring subs and instalment options also removes the most common reason people fall behind.
Are there card fees on collecting club payments?
Yes - taking money online carries a small processing fee whichever platform you use, and it is worth understanding the difference before you choose. Card payments typically run around 2.5% plus 20p per transaction. Direct Debit is usually cheaper for recurring subs - on Teamo it is 2% plus 20p at the time of writing - because the lower percentage adds up over a season of regular collections. Bundling subs, match fees and events into a single auto-payment also saves the fixed 20p that would otherwise be charged on each separate transaction. Fees change over time, so always check current rates.
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