Less kids playing hockey;

[Maninthebox]

On 6/20/2024 at 2:29 AM, Scott72 said:

I have also noticed that kids don't play hockey now days like they did back in the days. 

 

I personally never played Ice Hockey myself as I was never good at ice skating. But after school we did play ball hockey out on the street (was lucky to have cut de sac to play ball hockey). I don't see kids playing hockey anymore. 

 

It wasn't like just elementary kids playing. I was in high school grade 9 and there were kids from grade 11/12 whom I used to play ball hockey on street. I am hearing a lot of people saying, oh hockey is expensive, yes ice hockey is expensive but for ball hockey on street? just need a net, a hockey stick and a hockey ball. 

 

I think about this often and then I realize the way things are in our society like crime, abduction, etc. As a kid would I feel safe to play outside? Also the way some lunatics drive on inner roads? some people drive at 70+ on inner roads. If a kid is out on the streets playing and these guys drive around, would they have time to even stop? 

 

Some cities have bylaw restrictions against playing 'sports' on streets; it is illegal here in Calgary, for example. We do have a lot of outdoor rinks, and our local rink often has kids/people playing.

 

On 6/19/2024 at 9:42 PM, stawns said:

 

Soccer is, by far, the most popular sport and it's not even close

 

On 6/19/2024 at 9:46 PM, Nucker67 said:

 

a ball is cheap

 

You'd think so, but even soccer is expensive these days. My youngest was recruited to play for one of the local clubs, and the base cost was close to $2'000 for two days per week, and another $500 roughly for gear and uniforms. They would cancel sessions if it looked like rain, or if it was too sunny, or if it was smoky.

[Northern_Nuck]

    Most people over the last 5 years have gotten to the point  where they can’t afford food, I don’t think hockey is a priority at that point. 
 - secondly when I was a child, in the Cariboo town I grew up in there was 20 teams in house + 2 in rep. Now at that same age group, My son’s league only has 3 teams and rep borrows from them when they have injuries. 
 - 3) People don’t stay together anymore. It’s very hard to get kids to the arena 4+ times per week and hold a job. 
 - 4) Any of the parents I see at the rink I know are making $125,000/year each. Then you add in step parents and such. The ones that don’t? Well usually their parents(grandparents to the hockey player) are big business owners. 
 -5) demographics have changed and tradition. Growing up it was common where people would host others on Saturday nights and the hockey games were always on and all the adults were drinking. Now you don’t really see that anymore. 
 

 

[iinatcc]

On 6/13/2024 at 3:14 AM, grumpyone said:

what's REALLY scary is....when was the last time you ever saw a group   of kids playing street hockey?

too many video games being played instead. 

very sad

 

I always see this as a reason but I don't buy it. Sure technology can be a hinderance but the myth is "kids these days are at home playing videogames or at their phones" is exaggerated. 

 

I still a lot of kids going out and doing outdoor activities whether it's Hockey, Soccer, Bouldering, or just doing stuff outside. 

 

Not saying there's a trend for this but I don't think its substantial to understanding the decline of kids participating in Hockey. 

 

[Joe King]

On 6/12/2024 at 5:41 PM, IBatch said:

Not to be dramatic, but costs were an issue in the 70's and 80's too.   It was prohibitive then too. 

My thoughts. Back in the 70"s and 80's. No GST or HST. Income and property taxes were lower. No carbon tax. Average homes didn't cost one million dollars. Yes the average person earned less. But I believe every day expenses were a little more manageable. The more you pay just to survive the less disposable income is available for anything else.So it's having to make financial decisions that keep the house hold intact,then if there is any money left over spend it on things such as this. 

[Alflives]

We are soft. Thrift stores for equipment. Cheapest ice possible. No need for the expensive stuff. Kid plays and has fun. Wasting money on fancy equipment, sticks, skates is stupid. Players were fine with sh*t equipment and old wooden sticks playing on crappy outdoor ice. If a kid doesn’t like that too bad. Play soccer. 

[Boudrias]

35 minutes ago, Alflives said:

We are soft. Thrift stores for equipment. Cheapest ice possible. No need for the expensive stuff. Kid plays and has fun. Wasting money on fancy equipment, sticks, skates is stupid. Players were fine with sh*t equipment and old wooden sticks playing on crappy outdoor ice. If a kid doesn’t like that too bad. Play soccer. 

Ya, all that Alf but I also wonder how much Hockey Canada is being gutted by the Hockey Academies? Obviously a new development track that takes the higher end kids away from rep and even house leagues. I have a nephew in one right now. It is very expensive with a lot of travel. I have no idea how his parents afford it. On the other end of the scale there are parents who cannot afford to have their kids in minor hockey. When my boy was in minor hockey registration was $120 and tournaments were often extra. We car pooled, parents would cook meals on the road and if that wasn't possible we bought meals for kids who had no money. When our team went to provincials we fund raised. 

 

Minor hockey is a community. What motivates is the kids love of the game and their desire to play. Kids watch their NHL heroes and often see the good with the bad. The idea of $200 sticks is bizarre. While we might have played on ponds with gum boots as goal posts my kid never did, or rarely. He watched the zamboni clean the ice while I had to scrap snow to clean a surface big enough to play on the pond. The world is changing and not much we can do about it.  

[stawns]

On 6/19/2024 at 9:41 PM, RWMc1 said:

Another minor factor could be the climate. We used to have 6 different outdoor rinks within walking distance when I was a kid. We also had unofficial tournaments in an outdoor rink with normal rounded walls but with chainlink instead of glass. I think many cities don't invest in those anymore because of the cost and shorter seasons. A lot of kids got hooked and joined a league.

 

And kids play soccer here in the okanagan year round because there are indoor facilities 

[Rekker]

On 6/22/2024 at 7:06 AM, Northern_Nuck said:

    Most people over the last 5 years have gotten to the point  where they can’t afford food, I don’t think hockey is a priority at that point. 
 - secondly when I was a child, in the Cariboo town I grew up in there was 20 teams in house + 2 in rep. Now at that same age group, My son’s league only has 3 teams and rep borrows from them when they have injuries. 
 - 3) People don’t stay together anymore. It’s very hard to get kids to the arena 4+ times per week and hold a job. 
 - 4) Any of the parents I see at the rink I know are making $125,000/year each. Then you add in step parents and such. The ones that don’t? Well usually their parents(grandparents to the hockey player) are big business owners. 
 -5) demographics have changed and tradition. Growing up it was common where people would host others on Saturday nights and the hockey games were always on and all the adults were drinking. Now you don’t really see that anymore. 
 

 

Very accurate. Having just gone through the Minor Hockey Level with both kids AAA. Very accurate. It's turned into a sport where the high end talent has the families with the means to pay for it. As far as national enrollment, I predict the downtrend continues as well as Canada's quality of player. Too many spoiled brats vs blue collar farm boy types coming along now.

[Alflives]

5 minutes ago, stawns said:

 

And kids play soccer here in the okanagan year round because there are indoor facilities 

Yup. Takes little to no skill to play kids’ soccer. Still the elite athletes will gravitate to hockey, even though they are dominating the less athletic soccer players. There’s little to no future for an elite Canadian born athlete in pro soccer. We can’t even produce enough good men soccer players to even score a goal against top 10 teams. Pretty much we are embarrassingly bad at soccer because the top athletes follow hockey. Then they choose baseball, football, and basketball (if they’re tall)

Soccer may attract more youth players but Hockey will always be king in Canada much like Football will always be King down south. 

[Johngould21]

10 minutes ago, Rekker said:

Very accurate. Having just gone through the Minor Hockey Level with both kids AAA. Very accurate. It's turned into a sport where the high end talent has the families with the means to pay for it. As far as national enrollment, I predict the downtrend continues as well as Canada's quality of player. Too many spoiled brats vs blue collar farm boy types coming along now.

Rep hockey for U13, U11, can cost a family $10-$15K a year. That alone is ridiculous. Add to that the cost of equipment, time, and getting kids through school with decent marks, is it any wonder why fewer parents sign their kids up for the game. Our grandkids are playing but, their parents earn a decent wage. My granddaughter is a goalie, which costs a bit less, because not many girls want to play goal. I've heard of families using their lines of credit so their kids can play elite hockey.

Edited June 23 by Johngould21

[Rekker]

20 minutes ago, Johngould21 said:

Rep hockey for U13, U11, can cost a family $10-$15K a year. That alone is ridiculous. Add to that the cost of equipment, time, and getting kids through school with decent marks, is it any wonder why fewer parents sign their kids up for the game. Our grandkids are playing but, their parents earn a decent wage. My granddaughter is a goalie, which costs a bit less, because not many girls want to play goal. I've heard of families using their lines of credit so their kids can play elite hockey.

Lol, yip.  I've seen parents take out a second mortgage to put kids in Academys. Academys are in tight with junior leagues and I have seen, heard rumours of some junior teams taking payola to take certain kids. Money talks. This combined with other factors will eventually lead to Canadas grasp on hockey in the world fade. We are already seeing it happen.  High end hockey in Canada has gone down a wormhole of which there is no escape. 

Edited June 23 by Rekker

[Johngould21]

1 hour ago, Rekker said:

Lol, yip.  I've seen parents take out a second mortgage to put kids in Academys. Academys are in tight with junior leagues and I have seen, heard rumours of some junior teams taking payola to take certain kids. Money talks. This combined with other factors will eventually lead to Canadas grasp on hockey in the world fade. We are already seeing it happen.  High end hockey in Canada has gone down a wormhole of which there is no escape. 

Have you heard of HPL? My grandson was "invited" to play in a scrimmage with two teams of 2011 bd's. He's a late 2012 bd, but was also included in this group. There were some scouts from HPL as well as rep coaches involved. HPL is around $20K per season.

[Rekker]

2 hours ago, Johngould21 said:

Have you heard of HPL? My grandson was "invited" to play in a scrimmage with two teams of 2011 bd's. He's a late 2012 bd, but was also included in this group. There were some scouts from HPL as well as rep coaches involved. HPL is around $20K per season.

Haven't, no. But so many options. Or should I say money vacuums now.