Steady decline in youth hockey participation in Canada raises concerns about the future of sport

[Favster]

The dad was probably looking at is an investment if his kid makes the NHL.

I mean you're probably right to a certain extent but hockey has gotten exponentially more expensive over the years. My brother (41) and I (37) both played hockey at a competitive level (AA and summer AAA leagues) on one income under 100K a year in the household. There's just no way that would be possible today.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

The dad was probably looking at is an investment if his kid makes the NHL.

I think the truth lies herein for a lot of parents. An investment of $150K to $250K from the time their kid is playing high level hockey from the ages of 6 to 17, with the intention that their ROI will be many multiples of that when their kid gets drafted to the NHL.

Probably is, only a mere fraction of a fraction do, and all these rep teams and leagues have found a way to severely monetize it. Throw all the politics that come with it on top of it, along with how cutthroat the whole business is, and I question how many parents put up with it for so many years.

Granted, I know many try and live vicariously through their kid(s) and want to give them every opportunity their parent(s) may not have or couldn't have afforded.

Similarly, I'm surprised there aren't more kids who hit that breaking point of playing so much hockey that they are sick of it all and just give it up. A lot of these kids aren't allowed to be kids because they're at the rink practically the whole time.

 

[Yukon Joe]

OK, so I'm the father of three boys, two of whom play hockey, one at a high level.

The decline of hockey registration is important and concerning. But I want to clear up a few reasons of what AREN'T the reasons:

-cost of equipment. Hockey has always required equipment. That can't possibly be the reason why registration is down. Just because you can spend $600 on a stick doesn't mean you need to - you can buy a $25 wooden stick (or a $50 composite) that'll work just as well for 99% of players.

-cost to play. Look, if you just want to play fun hockey / house league / whatever you call it, it's really quite reasonable. My youngest who doesn't play hockey (he tried and it and didn't like it) does martial arts - it costs just as much as house league hockey.

-cost to develop elite athletes. Again, you don't have to play at that level to play hockey. Plus the cost to develop elite athletes in any sport is huge.

-immigration. Look, on the one hand, if you're fresh "off the boat" from the Punjab you don't immediately sign your kid up for hockey, I get that. But you know around the rink I see lots and lots of kids from "new Canadian" families. Now they might be second generation Canadians, but if you spend time in Canada you start following hockey - even if it's just to talk with your neighbors about how the Leafs or Oilers did the night before. But you grow to love the sport, and then you want to get your kids involved. Or the kid grows to love hockey and bugs his parents to play.


I think the problem is more insidious. It's about the growth of technology and the atomization of society. Look I saw some statistics about hockey registration in the 1970s. Really - what was there to do if you're a kid in the 1970s? You had a TV with three channels on - maybe. There were no video games, no internet, no smartphones. You either sat around the house being bored - or your parents signed you up for sports like hockey to get you out of the house.

Because this phenomenon extends well beyond hockey to all kinds or organized activities. Service clubs like the Masons or the Rotary have had huge declines. Fraternities / sororities have had huge declines. I used to be an avid curler and still enjoy the sport - curling registration is way down.


So there's a real problem here - but one that doesn't have easy answers.

 

[Garo]

Well they are from different backrounds than most NBA and Soccer players , how are you supposed to relate to a guy like sidney Crosby or Connor McDavids when they're dads have backyard rinks built for them when they are 5 .

I'm just saying a guy like Lebron James has a 100% more relatable backround since most people don't come from perfect prototypical american dream like families

Hell, you saw that in Montréal earlier this week with Luguentz Dort. He's "just" a NBA starter, but I can't think of many Québec hockey players that can reach others with how relatable his story is. There's pretty much none of them that comes from population dense burroughs anymore.

 

[SEALBound]

OK, so I'm the father of three boys, two of whom play hockey, one at a high level.

The decline of hockey registration is important and concerning. But I want to clear up a few reasons of what AREN'T the reasons:

-cost of equipment. Hockey has always required equipment. That can't possibly be the reason why registration is down. Just because you can spend $600 on a stick doesn't mean you need to - you can buy a $25 wooden stick (or a $50 composite) that'll work just as well for 99% of players.

-cost to play. Look, if you just want to play fun hockey / house league / whatever you call it, it's really quite reasonable. My youngest who doesn't play hockey (he tried and it and didn't like it) does martial arts - it costs just as much as house league hockey.

-cost to develop elite athletes. Again, you don't have to play at that level to play hockey. Plus the cost to develop elite athletes in any sport is huge.

-immigration. Look, on the one hand, if you're fresh "off the boat" from the Punjab you don't immediately sign your kid up for hockey, I get that. But you know around the rink I see lots and lots of kids from "new Canadian" families. Now they might be second generation Canadians, but if you spend time in Canada you start following hockey - even if it's just to talk with your neighbors about how the Leafs or Oilers did the night before. But you grow to love the sport, and then you want to get your kids involved. Or the kid grows to love hockey and bugs his parents to play.


I think the problem is more insidious. It's about the growth of technology and the atomization of society. Look I saw some statistics about hockey registration in the 1970s. Really - what was there to do if you're a kid in the 1970s? You had a TV with three channels on - maybe. There were no video games, no internet, no smartphones. You either sat around the house being bored - or your parents signed you up for sports like hockey to get you out of the house.

Because this phenomenon extends well beyond hockey to all kinds or organized activities. Service clubs like the Masons or the Rotary have had huge declines. Fraternities / sororities have had huge declines. I used to be an avid curler and still enjoy the sport - curling registration is way down.


So there's a real problem here - but one that doesn't have easy answers.

Really good post but I want to call out the bolded paragraph as something that people may not be considering. There is SOOO friggin much to do in this world that it's nearly impossible to pick a path. And with how much interests are shifting and how social structures are changing a bit, it's not a surprise to see sports taking a hit, especially if it's compounded by one of the items you suggested above.

 

[NVious]

Kids aren't watching Rock Em Sock Em with Grapes to teach em how what's right and wrong.

Instead they're twerking, getting broccoli cuts and making tik toks.

What happened to us?

 

[Sheppy]

Kids aren't watching Rock Em Sock Em with Grapes to teach em how what's right and wrong.

Instead they're twerking, getting broccoli cuts and making tik toks.

What happened to us?

Honestly.

Accurate.

 

[Favster]

OK, so I'm the father of three boys, two of whom play hockey, one at a high level.

The decline of hockey registration is important and concerning. But I want to clear up a few reasons of what AREN'T the reasons:

-cost of equipment. Hockey has always required equipment. That can't possibly be the reason why registration is down. Just because you can spend $600 on a stick doesn't mean you need to - you can buy a $25 wooden stick (or a $50 composite) that'll work just as well for 99% of players.

-cost to play. Look, if you just want to play fun hockey / house league / whatever you call it, it's really quite reasonable. My youngest who doesn't play hockey (he tried and it and didn't like it) does martial arts - it costs just as much as house league hockey.

-cost to develop elite athletes. Again, you don't have to play at that level to play hockey. Plus the cost to develop elite athletes in any sport is huge.

-immigration. Look, on the one hand, if you're fresh "off the boat" from the Punjab you don't immediately sign your kid up for hockey, I get that. But you know around the rink I see lots and lots of kids from "new Canadian" families. Now they might be second generation Canadians, but if you spend time in Canada you start following hockey - even if it's just to talk with your neighbors about how the Leafs or Oilers did the night before. But you grow to love the sport, and then you want to get your kids involved. Or the kid grows to love hockey and bugs his parents to play.


I think the problem is more insidious. It's about the growth of technology and the atomization of society. Look I saw some statistics about hockey registration in the 1970s. Really - what was there to do if you're a kid in the 1970s? You had a TV with three channels on - maybe. There were no video games, no internet, no smartphones. You either sat around the house being bored - or your parents signed you up for sports like hockey to get you out of the house.

Because this phenomenon extends well beyond hockey to all kinds or organized activities. Service clubs like the Masons or the Rotary have had huge declines. Fraternities / sororities have had huge declines. I used to be an avid curler and still enjoy the sport - curling registration is way down.


So there's a real problem here - but one that doesn't have easy answers.

Yes, house league hockey is reasonably priced but we are talking about the future of the sport which implies elite level players, that's what Canada is known for. The cost of the sport is 100% a problem.

 

[TheDoldrums]

More of todays young parents need to be proactive about putting their kids into activities. My daughters in gymnastics, soccer, figure skating (wants to switch to hockey next winter), dance, swimming, etc. Kids don't know what they want, if you leave them to their own devices they'll often take the lazy path. And more parents need to stop believing the world revolves around them and realize we're here to make the best life possible for our children. Having so many broken homes doesn't help.

 

[Boy Hedican]

It's just too expensive for the majority of families. I live part time in LA and part time in Vancouver and, no matter how much Californians complain about high taxes and cost of living, it doesn't compare to the madness of BC/Canada. I can't imagine that most families who don't make over 150k per year or higher can swing high-level youth hockey. Canada has gone off the rails in the last 10 years and I don't see it getting better anytime soon. It sucks be because it's robbing today's youth of a joy I took for granted playing hockey all my young life.

Are you sure about that? My fast search/math is showing California still taxes more.

 

[tarheelhockey]

This has been a story for at least a decade, but ignored by the hockey establishment. I’ve been pulling my hair out on HFBoards for a long time, positing data to show that this day was coming. The NHL doesn’t take serious responsibility for the state of the grassroots game, so they’re not the solution. The real villains here are orgs like Hockey Canada and USA Hockey, who shirk their responsibility for addressing this topic. They’re more interested in reporting “record registration numbers” which basically just means they’ve become more efficient at making kids pay for hockey through their own organizations and not through independent leagues — it’s a sales scheme. They’ll report meaningless “record numbers” while the material efforts go into servicing 0.01% of their membership because their actual measure of success is tournament medals. So the tiniest sliver of the wealthiest kids, who can afford to live that tournament lifestyle, get the vast majority of attention and resources, while the actual body of membership is careening toward a cliff.

At this point I don’t know what can be done about it. People like you and me don’t have influence at the levels that would actually draw attention to the problem — I’m not some full time hockey dad who can throw around money and get a meeting with the board, all I can do is bark loudly and put information online. We are at a point where amateur hockey has become a semi-professionalized industry, so there’s actual infrastructure baked into the system which prevents any quick or easy change.

I dislike saying this, but the powers-that-be of the past 50 years broke the system. They let us down. There’s no reverse mechanism. What’s going to happen is that this sport will become like lacrosse, where there is little to no general public participation. What will remain is a professional entertainment industry, consisting of wealthy guys competing to get wealthier. The entertainment side of things may actually continue to grow, depending on how they handle it, but the sport as a cultural institution is shriveling and will be effectively dead within the lifetime of someone being born today.

 

[ManofSteel55]

simply too expensive for a lot of families. the risk of head injuries and sexual abuse aren't helping either.

Along with lesser concerns than those you listed, like tribalism, and non-financial barriers for the working class, like being unable to meet the rigorous travel commitments of hockey teams due to other commitments, like not being able to take time off from work.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Yes, house league hockey is reasonably priced but we are talking about the future of the sport which implies elite level players, that's what Canada is known for. The cost of the sport is 100% a problem.

"future of the sport" doesn't imply elite players.

I mean if you want to talk about whether Canada is developing enough elite hockey players so that we can dominate at international hockey - that's a conversation we can have. But discussing the number of kids who play hockey doesn't really factor into it much.

If you really want to just focus on elite hockey, you identify kids at a reasonably young age and dump all your resources into those kids - and they who cares about the rest. Little Jimmy in Tier 4 U13 community hockey is never going to be an elite athlete so why care about him?

When I think "future of the sport" I think more about ensuring lots of people play the sport - because playing means you love the sport, you'll participate in the sport, and yes you'll watch the sport. That's what I'm much more concerned about.

 

[I am toxic]

Anyone who thinks hockey is expensive has never had a kid in ballet.

 

[BadgerBruce]

Anyone who thinks hockey is expensive has never had a kid in ballet.

Or equestrian.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Yes, house league hockey is reasonably priced but we are talking about the future of the sport which implies elite level players, that's what Canada is known for. The cost of the sport is 100% a problem.

Disagree , the future of the sport is kids wanting to play, it’s not about the 0.000001 % of kids that make it.

 

[Sol]

look no further. It's Canada's "amazing" economy.

Anyone who thinks hockey is expensive has never had a kid in ballet.

51k to 90k annually for ballet is not good if its that expensive.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Anyone who thinks hockey is expensive has never had a kid in ballet.

Or more generally - any other activity.

The thing to remember about hockey (community hockey at least) is it's run by a non-profit and all the coaches are volunteers. That actually makes a big difference.

You go to a dance studio (or a martial arts dojo) - your fees are paying for the rent/mortgage of the studio. They're the source of income of the instructors.

Now that of course explains why "elite" hockey is so expensive - now people are making a living from it

 

[BadgerBruce]

I posted this a few years back in a thread dealing with the rising popularity of basketball in Canada, but I think it is still appropriate today in this discussion about minor hockey registration is Canada.

Unedited:

To my mind, the rising popularity of basketball is not hard to figure out.

Nearly all of the top NBA basketball players today have highly compelling personal backstories. So many of the players are genuine “success stories,” guys who pulled themselves out of the muck and mire of inner-city poverty, broken homes, and sometimes even horrific crimes and violence to achieve success.

Kyle Lowry is from the Streets of Philly (and a horribly broken home) to your city. DeRozan grew up in gang-infested Compton and had 2 uncles murdered. Lebron James is from an impoverished single-parent family; his mom was just a 16 year old girl when she gave birth to him.

Kawhi Leonard was a teenager when his father was shot dead in a drive-by murder. The Greek Freak’s journey to NBA stardom is a case study in overcoming unbelievable odds. Good Lord, he was literally Stateless for the first 18 years of his life.

Pro basketball provides just one personal underdog story after another. As an old-school sports fan, those stories just grab me by the gonads and make me want to tune in and root for those athletes.

To the underprivileged kid today, those underdog stories say that anything is possible. That’s priceless, truly a gift.

The same underprivileged kid looks at Crosby, MacKinnon or McDavid and thinks, “you’re joking, right? They aren’t at all like me.”

Hockey once had stars who beat the socio-economic odds and inspired kids. Richard, Howe, Hull were all born into huge lower-class families and had to scratch and claw their way to success, push through the Great Depression or WWII or even having very little food on the table.

Not today. Those days are long gone from the hockey world and as economic inequality in Canada increases, so too will the popularity of sports, like basketball, where the best of the best frequently had to overcome profound challenges and circumstances to reach the top.

To dig a little more deeply, consider how youth hockey in Canada is packaged as a “family affair.” Moms with Dodge Caravans and Dads with hot Timmies double-doubles on a Saturday morning in Smalltown Canada. Off to the rink we all go for some wholesome family fun, with Dads who coach and moms who coordinate fundraising and grandparents who clap and cheer.

After the game they take the kids to Scotiabank to learn about saving money for college.

Where’s the drama? The conflict? What adversity are these kids overcoming? Apparently, life is nearly perfect.

So why isn’t youth basketball packaged as a family affair like youth hockey?

Because it’s not.

Basketball is the game kids play all day Saturday with other kids of all ages in the schoolyard or at the Y without hovering parents trying to turn the kids’ fun into some family outing of cultural significance.

Youth basketball today is what youth hockey once was. A few years ago when Bobby Orr was pushing hard for hockey to return to its roots and offer kids more unstructured opportunities to just play, basketball people didn’t need to pay attention to Orr’s plea. Their sport is already built on unstructured play by kids for kids.

Unless hockey can turn back the clock, I’d put my money on basketball’s future.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I posted this a few years back in a thread dealing with the rising popularity of basketball in Canada, but I think it is still appropriate today in this discussion about minor hockey registration is Canada.

Unedited:

To my mind, the rising popularity of basketball is not hard to figure out.

Nearly all of the top NBA basketball players today have highly compelling personal backstories. So many of the players are genuine “success stories,” guys who pulled themselves out of the muck and mire of inner-city poverty, broken homes, and sometimes even horrific crimes and violence to achieve success.

Kyle Lowry is from the Streets of Philly (and a horribly broken home) to your city. DeRozan grew up in gang-infested Compton and had 2 uncles murdered. Lebron James is from an impoverished single-parent family; his mom was just a 16 year old girl when she gave birth to him.

Kawhi Leonard was a teenager when his father was shot dead in a drive-by murder. The Greek Freak’s journey to NBA stardom is a case study in overcoming unbelievable odds. Good Lord, he was literally Stateless for the first 18 years of his life.

Pro basketball provides just one personal underdog story after another. As an old-school sports fan, those stories just grab me by the gonads and make me want to tune in and root for those athletes.

To the underprivileged kid today, those underdog stories say that anything is possible. That’s priceless, truly a gift.

The same underprivileged kid looks at Crosby, MacKinnon or McDavid and thinks, “you’re joking, right? They aren’t at all like me.”

Hockey once had stars who beat the socio-economic odds and inspired kids. Richard, Howe, Hull were all born into huge lower-class families and had to scratch and claw their way to success, push through the Great Depression or WWII or even having very little food on the table.

Not today. Those days are long gone from the hockey world and as economic inequality in Canada increases, so too will the popularity of sports, like basketball, where the best of the best frequently had to overcome profound challenges and circumstances to reach the top.

To dig a little more deeply, consider how youth hockey in Canada is packaged as a “family affair.” Moms with Dodge Caravans and Dads with hot Timmies double-doubles on a Saturday morning in Smalltown Canada. Off to the rink we all go for some wholesome family fun, with Dads who coach and moms who coordinate fundraising and grandparents who clap and cheer.

After the game they take the kids to Scotiabank to learn about saving money for college.

Where’s the drama? The conflict? What adversity are these kids overcoming? Apparently, life is nearly perfect.

So why isn’t youth basketball packaged as a family affair like youth hockey?

Because it’s not.

Basketball is the game kids play all day Saturday with other kids of all ages in the schoolyard or at the Y without hovering parents trying to turn the kids’ fun into some family outing of cultural significance.

Youth basketball today is what youth hockey once was. A few years ago when Bobby Orr was pushing hard for hockey to return to its roots and offer kids more unstructured opportunities to just play, basketball people didn’t need to pay attention to Orr’s plea. Their sport is already built on unstructured play by kids for kids.

Unless hockey can turn back the clock, I’d put my money on basketball’s future.

Not doing well on viewership
Game 1 and 2 of finals - 200-300k
Basketball had one good year, Raptors winning.

NHL is at 2-3 million every year in Canada, not just this year.
Basketball has a very long way to go.

 

[beachcomber]

Like many sports it is too expensive and full of grifters selling "must have" schools, camps and equipment etc for little Johnny to make the big show. Hockey parents are generally completely unrealistic about their kids abilities. An old fellow named Larry Lund used to run the Okanogan hockey school. His opening speech to the parents was that pretty much all of the kids present at camp would never play in the NHL let alone junior hockey. He held a catalogue of schools in North America that provided scholarships for various types of sports. His message was to have your kid play a multitude of sports. Don't get hung up on one sport like hockey where few make it. He said that the kids should just work hard and have fun. That speech chilled out some of the parents. Lund was old school and told it like it was, which is rare in this day and age.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

I love hockey, but truth be told my wallet is damn glad that my son is seemingly more interested in basketball and tennis/pickleball instead.

 

[Sheppy]

Anyone who thinks hockey is expensive has never had a kid in ballet.

My buddy has a daughter in Figure Skating and if you want to see a man get riled up about the cost of sports, that'll do it.

He spent like $3000 to take her to a figure skating event in Edmonton.

"Well, lets just say this... watching her skate was like pissing away $200 every 25 seconds"

 

[WhatTheDuck]

This is absolutely no surprise. The country is in a housing crisis and people are lining up at food banks in increasing record numbers. Completely disgraceful "leadership"

 

[HockeyVirus]

Doesn't help that any programs that go towards helping affordability discludes the biggest demographic of players. Lots of poor families would love to enroll their kids.