<p>Now that we have heard back from almost all of the colleges my son applied to, I am starting to think less about him getting IN to college and more about the logistics of him going TO college. </p>
<p>He is planning on playing ice hockey at the club or intramural level, as he has been playing hockey since he was 7 years old. I'm just wondering what kids do with their big, smelly hockey bags. Do they keep them in their dorm rooms? I can't imagine his roommate being too happy about that! I'm assuming that storage areas in the athletic centers would be used by players who are actually playing for the college teams.</p>
<p>I'm wondering if anyone has dealt with this and might have some advice on what they did. Thanks!</p>
<p>No hockey here, but same problem with soccer/lacrosse/softball bags & gear. My D was lucky that there was a closet outside her room for about 4 dorm rooms to use. Kids kept most of their “smelly” stuff in there. After she moved to an apt she had a car and kept stuff in the trunk (=smelly trunk!).
Maybe his roommate will have the same passion…then twice as much stinky stuff! Also,try putting dryer sheets in the bag/shoes! Just please don’t pick his college based on space to put the hockey stuff! It will all work out!</p>
<p>I remember my college would rent out lockers in the gym on a quarterly basis. No clue if they had one big enough for all the hockey gear your son will have, but it might be enough to just keep the worst smelling offenders out of the room.</p>
<p>fellow hockey mom here - mine has a few years before college, but i swear I was already thinking of this. Really, there is nothing on earth as stinky as a hockey bag. And I am guessing most of the replies have never carried a hockey bag. From what i have seen, it would take up 50% of the walking space in any given dorm room.</p>
<p>No help, but I would see if maybe some of the colleges that have club teams in addition to actual teams may be able to answer.</p>
<p>No good answer here, but being a hockey mom to a 12 year old, I’d PREFER the smelly equipment in the dorm room on a tree. Nothing breeds the bacteria like trying to store it in a locker or bag under the bed. Our area recently got a “service” that picks up, cleans and delivers the equipment back. In a college situation, that may be vital to get it clean and aired properly at least every semester.</p>
<p>Best suggestion I have is contacting each college’s athletic department to see if they can provide at least some contacts, if not answers, for you.</p>
<p>S1 plays on a club team (not the high level clubs like some of the east coast schools). His season runs Oct-March. Last year we picked up his bag at spring break and if there were any bungie cords available, it would have found its way to the top of the SUV</p>
<p>They have a storage are off of the football locker room where they keep their gear. S is captain and has a key to the room. He says that after everyone has dumped their gear bags he goes back and lays his stuff on top of all the other bags:P Periodically he uses the football players ozone machine to clean his gear. The first year he thought about bringing his skates and gloves back to his room to dry out, but apparently his roommate (also on team) has the stinkiest gear and S1 did not want roomie to also have gear in room. </p>
<p>At home we had (have) one of those airflow lockers in the garage…he wanted to bring it to school, but we said no. We thought about one of those boot trees with the air flowing inside the skate/gloves, but even hockey kids don’t want that smell in their rooms. </p>
<p>Find out is the local community has a sports shop with an ozone machine. At least you could get rid of the bacteria.</p>
<p>In order to get cheaper ice time, their games tend to be quite late on Fri/Sat/Sun nights. At first I was bothered by this. Now I am glad as they are too tired and smelly to hit the parties.</p>
<p>Email the coach and see if they have a room to store the gear.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions! I actually hadn’t thought about contacting the athletic dept. Seems obvious now that I am reading it. I will do that as soon as he picks a school.</p>
<p>@ilovedcollege - no, he’s not picking based on storage space, but whether or not the college had a club hockey team played a BIG factor in his selection process when he was choosing schools to apply to. Could be worse reasons, I guess.</p>
<p>@Longhaul - I have some bad news for you. The smelly equipment of a 12 year old is NOTHING compared to the stink of 16,17, and 18 year olds! I wish we had the kind of equipment cleaning service you mentioned. That would be really convenient.</p>
<p>DS#1 had a lacrosse bag + long pole that stayed in his room out of season. Bag was on the floor of his closet and pole stayed in the corner behind the door. He’s at an LAC and I must warn you that I doubt a smaller school would have storage for anyone other than varsity players.</p>
<p>And I do get the unique hockey bag smell–DH is still playing in his mid-50s. I don’t know if it would help to have your son try to find a first-year roommate who also plays. They might both figure out a solution (including a boatload of febreze).</p>
<p>Mom of 3 hockey players here and I can’t imagine anyone surviving in a dorm room with hockey equipment, that stench could kill! The 3 boys left their bags in the SUV one night and I thought we would have to get rid of the car. :eek:</p>
<p>My oldest took his equipment to school with him and there was a storage room available for kids to keep their gear. Perhaps there will be something similar at your S’s school.</p>
<p>MyLB - my husband plays, too. But HIS bag doesn’t come in the house. It stays in the garage, even in the winter in upstate New York (must be fun for him putting that stuff on!). Of course, I don’t think he’s cleaned any of his gear since his mother did it for him in high school (almost 30 years ago). I try not to think about it …</p>
<p>My D played club for 4 years in college. She was lucky in that her dorm setup was two rooms connected by an outer foyer where the bathroom for the two rooms was located. Her bag lived in that foyer for 2 years, and when she moved to an apartment (with a teammate, thank goodness) the bags lived in the living (really locker) room! Really, it was hard to believe that 2 girls lived there, what with sticks and open bags everywhere. They make it work. The harder thing was shlepping the bloody thing to the pickup point for practice and games.</p>
<p>benreb - just heads up. S1’s club league is no-check (which pleases me). Because of this, S quickly followed the lead of the older kids and shed his chest/shoulder pads. I still worry that he will take a puck to the chest (they are not supposed to raise the puck) or a ram his shoulder into the boards. I bought him an inline hockey t-shirt type top that has protection over the chest. He claims to wear it…</p>
<p>Thanks, Kajon. He actually separated his shoulder this year (first hockey injury in 10 years, so we’re lucky), so that’s good to keep in mind. Of course, he also had a skiing accident, so maybe this just wasn’t his year :)</p>