patnyrnyg
Registered User
- Sep 16, 2004
- 11,081
- 1,110
all 5 of us swam growing up. 2 of my brothers and I just did a summer rec team and the local pool. It was free, but had to have a pool membership. My other brother and sister swam on a more serious club. I can tell you, it was expensive and cost my parents more than when my youngest brother played hockey. My sister and brother that swam on the more serious club team both swam in college.So look - the story does have some actual concrete numbers, but for the most part is just full of conjecture and anecdotes no better than a HF Boards discussion.
So here's the key statistic:
So I don't want to be accused of saying there's no problem. There is. And this is what this statistics points out.
But it's hard to dig into many statistics. I tried to find the underlying report the news article is based around. This appears to be it:
But note the report itself is not available online. You can email for a "free summary", or you have to purchase the full report.
So look - do more kids do swimming and soccer than hockey in Canada? Sure, I can believe that. Soccer is unbelievably easy to do (at young ages), and swimming is seen as an important life skill (again at young ages). All of my kids have done both soccer and swimming.
But from there... lets see...
No kidding. I don't care the sport - finances are a concern. Always But does that mean it's the primary reason kids don't play hockey?
Fundamentally - if you ask parents of kids who don't play hockey why their kids don't play hockey - they'll give you a bunch of reasons. Doesn't mean you're getting at the REAL reason.
I particularly "liked" this section:
Gee what a surprise - a guy who makes cut-proof gear says that making hockey safer is really important. I wonder why he'd say that. (note: I do support cut-proof gear, just don't think this is why more kids don't play hockey)
Or this goes to a point I've made a bunch of times:
YOU DON'T HAVE TO PLAY ELITE/COMPETITIVE HOCKEY TO PLAY HOCKEY. Recreational hockey is very much a thing, and one that most players do. Don't point to the highest end elite programs as a reason not to play hockey at all.
So one factor I'm not so sure about:
Look - more ice sheets are always better. I don't think you'll ever get ice costs under $100/hr. But I know in Edmonton they've been pretty consistent about new ice sheets. There's supposed to be a new city-owned rec centre complete with twin ice sheets for 2028 (Lewis Farms). There was a private twin ice rink build in Nisku just last year. Strathcona County is building a new twin ice rink. We had a huge 4-sheet rink built in 2011 (so nice that's where the NHL teams practiced during the 2020 bubble), and another 2-sheet ice rink built in 2014 (Meadows). While there have been calls to close some of the aging single-ice rinks close to downtown so far the city has kept them open.
So yeah - the article points to a real problem - overall declining hockey enrollment. I know I talk to other hockey dads who compare how many kids were playing when they were kids compared to now. But this article doesn't do much to explain what's going on.
When my daughter first started playing, the most common thing I heard from other parents was, "Why are you putting her in hockey? It is so expensive and they practice at 6am..." Still waiting for her first 6am practice and every sport/activity kids participate in is expensive. The free swim team I was on still exists, run by the same town, but is no longer free.