GDT: Around The League 24/25. First month ends, the parity dream begins.

[Tarus]

It’s a little bit of both I think. Hockey equipment and programs are really expensive of course. But even families with the means, they are only going to dole out that money if their kid is super into it. No interest from the kids and even the Richie Riches of the world won’t be playing the sport. I know a couple of parents that wanted and were willing to pay for hockey for their kids, the kids just didn’t have interest.

You are right though regarding those other issues that could be affecting their interest. We living in the tik tok generation.

I'm not surprised about the lack of interest from the kids. Go outside in the cold and play hockey? Get up early in the morning to head to practice and play games? There are so many easier things they could be doing. The intersection between kids who want to play hockey and families who have the wealth to facilitate access to it is always going to be a minority, especially when you consider that the further up the wealth index you go, the less children families have.

Aspiring to make the NHL has probably never been more out of reach for the average middle class kid and his family than it is today too. Common threads among NHL prospects these days include things like familial ties to former players/coaches/sports figures(NBA/NFL etc), significant time in hockey academies around the country during formative years(35K to 75k per year tuition costs), year round hockey leagues, and access to things like personal trainers and nutritionist at a young age.

 

[TheNumber4]

I'm not surprised about the lack of interest from the kids. Go outside in the cold and play hockey? Get up early in the morning to head to practice and play games? There are so many easier things they could be doing. The intersection between kids who want to play hockey and families who have the wealth to facilitate access to it is always going to be a minority, especially when you consider that the further up the wealth index you go, the less children families have.

Aspiring to make the NHL has probably never been more out of reach for the average middle class kid and his family than it is today too. Common threads among NHL prospects these days include things like familial ties to former players/coaches/sports figures(NBA/NFL etc), significant time in hockey academies around the country during formative years(35K to 75k per year tuition costs), year round hockey leagues, and access to things like personal trainers and nutritionist at a young age.

It really is an uphill battle to keep this hockey thing going in Canada based on all the points you've laid out. It's definitely not an easy path financially or motivationally. Things get easy when you have the passion for what your doing though. Do kids have the same passion for the game as their parents did? Probably less likely than ever before.

 

[Mr Kot]

I'm not surprised about the lack of interest from the kids. Go outside in the cold and play hockey? Get up early in the morning to head to practice and play games? There are so many easier things they could be doing. The intersection between kids who want to play hockey and families who have the wealth to facilitate access to it is always going to be a minority, especially when you consider that the further up the wealth index you go, the less children families have.

Aspiring to make the NHL has probably never been more out of reach for the average middle class kid and his family than it is today too. Common threads among NHL prospects these days include things like familial ties to former players/coaches/sports figures(NBA/NFL etc), significant time in hockey academies around the country during formative years(35K to 75k per year tuition costs), year round hockey leagues, and access to things like personal trainers and nutritionist at a young age.

Yeah, the days of a kid playing in a backyard rink making the big leagues is gone and done. Too much of a movement into an "athlete factory" where you have to be coached from day 1 and pay the money to do so every year until they (maybe) make it big. Not a lot of grassroots players these days, which is sad because you can see some kids are very talented, but just don't have the money.

I know it's a bit faux pau to be happy when something collapses, but youth hockey needs to collapse and be rebuilt. Probably won't happen since the prospect of massive money in the big leagues will most likely not disappear any time soon, thus keeping the training and production of top end equipment the gatekeeper for the foreseeable future. NHL has to basically revert to pre 80's NHL in terms of business in order for the price of entry to drop enough for regular people to have a chance.

 

[Drivesaitl]

The decline of children in hockey has nothing to do with the NHL, the quality of the product, or it's leadership. Hockey is a hyper expensive niche sport with a lot of barriers preventing people from getting into it, a long standing problem that has been exacerbated in recent years by an inflation plagued economy and spiraling costs. NHL has never had, nor ever will have control over such things, and it's not a matter of just making the sport more popular.

It's not even an NHL problem either despite Seravalli's alarmism, sports participation among kids is declining across all sports, especially in Canada. There are a whole host of issues affecting participation beyond just the monetary aspect too, including rampant obesity, limited availability of facilities, increased anti-social behavior, and a generation of kids plagued by extremely short attention spans brought on by non-stop instant gratification feedback loops(social media, tiktok, video games etc).

Great post. You missed one thing though that from a family POV a lot of parents now steer kids away from potentially debillitating sports like Hockey and to other athletic endeavor. But I also appreciate your take on the amount of time required to really participate in hockey. That its just much harder to learn to skate, play etc and of course equipment cost. The time investment now goes into sports like Soccer invariably because its something for any skill level and at negligible cost.

Its not just sports declining its athletic participation declining. We have a toboggan hill just a block away. The unofficial gauge is theres 10X less use there than it used to be and when there are people using the hill its families, i.e. parents taking their kids to the hill. To see kids alone tobaggoning now is almost unheard of. It used to be the mode.

Another thing is that before the introduction of ebikes cycling was on a big decline and apparently as people didn't like the effort involved. Now its had a resurgence but not sure how much of it is on peddling or just coasting with the e battery doing the work.

 

[Stumbledore]

I'm not surprised about the lack of interest from the kids. Go outside in the cold and play hockey? Get up early in the morning to head to practice and play games? There are so many easier things they could be doing. The intersection between kids who want to play hockey and families who have the wealth to facilitate access to it is always going to be a minority, especially when you consider that the further up the wealth index you go, the less children families have.

Aspiring to make the NHL has probably never been more out of reach for the average middle class kid and his family than it is today too. Common threads among NHL prospects these days include things like familial ties to former players/coaches/sports figures(NBA/NFL etc), significant time in hockey academies around the country during formative years(35K to 75k per year tuition costs), year round hockey leagues, and access to things like personal trainers and nutritionist at a young age.

Excellent points. The tall foreheads in hockey need to read this a few times.

 

[Optimistic Cynic]

Aspiring to make the NHL has probably never been more out of reach for the average middle class kid and his family than it is today too. Common threads among NHL prospects these days include things like familial ties to former players/coaches/sports figures(NBA/NFL etc), significant time in hockey academies around the country during formative years(35K to 75k per year tuition costs), year round hockey leagues, and access to things like personal trainers and nutritionist at a young age.

You hit the nail of the head. Hockey is way expensive and families can't afford it anymore. And the familes with the higher incomes have fewer kids. Even with 2 wages and cheaper daycare, you can't outfit your kid hockey and still pay for the groceries.