Hockey Alberta considers getting rid of geographic restrictions for minor hockey

[Yukon Joe]

This is my son’s 3rd year in Ontario minor hockey, and to someone who was totally unfamiliar with it, I can’t believe how many associations there are within a stone’s throw of each other. And because of OMHA and Alliance you can have 2 organizations 15 minutes down the road from one another that don’t play each other much.

Seems like now that enrolment is an issue, even house league hockey has become travel hockey. Maybe I just don’t appreciate the pride and history of each organization, but it seems kind of crazy.

Curious what you mean by "travel hockey".

One thing I've noticed in Edmonton is you could easily have a league with just Edmonton proper, but that would leave the surrounding bedroom communities (St Albert, Sherwood Park) stuck playing rural teams. So "Edmonton minor hockey" includes the bedroom communities. But that then also brings in some of the really more rural areas as well. So at worst I might have to drive a solid hour to get my kid to a game out in the country - although probably not more than once per year.

I know from talking with other hockey parents that can be a source of frustration for rural parents. They already have to drive 1-2 hours for games, and the city is only 1-2 hours away anyways - why can't they play in the city (and maybe get some shopping done as well). City parents though hate the idea of having to drive that far.

 

[jetsmooseice]

I'm in a mysterious largish Western Canadian city that none of you will ever in a million years guess.

Minor hockey for my oldest (at least to this point, U13), is generally within the city, with only the occasional visit to a bedroom community. Which I am deeply grateful for because all the competition my kid's team needs and then some is easily found within a half hour of home. I would not be thrilled if I had a 90 minute drive at this time of year to a league game.

There are of course tournaments that involve longer drives and sometimes overnight stays, but those are rare enough (no more than a couple out of town tournaments a year) and generally enough fun that no one minds.

Interestingly, my youngest plays ringette and for her we quite often have to go to rural areas. Nowhere terribly far, like maybe 45 minutes max, but I assume that is because of the relatively small number of ringette teams relative to hockey.

But the point is that I would be annoyed if the elite travel team formula was the only way to play hockey. I know at my son's age the AA teams have long road trips and that's fine. But I'd say that most kids don't need that and I don't understand why so many associations focus on this "elite hockey for everyone" type of approach when 99% of kids playing the game aren't elite.