TPM #262: Is Anyone Surprised By The Decline of Youth Hockey Participation in Canada?
The beginning of the end of youth hockey in Canada is a stark tale of adults ruining one of the great learning experiences and experiences for our youth.
A recent article cited the decline in participation in youth hockey in Canada.
In 2022, Hockey Canada reported 340,365 youths younger than 18 participating in the sport, a 35% drop from 523,785 just 13 years earlier. That number slightly rebounded in 2023 to 360,031, but is still some 15% below pre-pandemic levels even while soccer and tennis numbers in Canada have already recovered. That means over a 13 year period, Hockey Canada has lost about 1/3 of its participants.
The article cites a number of reasons for the decline. From high cost, low availability of ice, elitist nature that hockey has become, and the year-round demand on those participating and their families. The reasons are multiple.
The prognosis for hockey participation is not a good one, and the above are partly to blame. However, there is another underlying cause that escapes most: the inability, reluctance and unwillingness for the hockey governing bodies to change.
In Canada, youth hockey is run at the local, provincial and national levels by organizations with their own agendas, and they are not what is best for our youth.
The Physical Movement documented Matt Young’s work in 2020. His team at FSQ sport have worked with multiple sports organizations in multiple countries for many years. Matt documented the process of attempting to help the various hockey governing bodies at all levels in 2023, and the report back of his experiences are eye opening to say the least.
If you want a candid, transparent peek under the hood of youth hockey in Canada and its mindset, take a few minutes to review this.
Since youth hockey organizations will not help themselves, the prognosis then is that hockey participation will continue to decline.
And when you really boil it down to why; there’s just not enough time, energy, capacity, desire or support to build this into a proper, quality service offering. Matt Young.
This is not to say some outliers do exist and more may emerge. Stanley Stick Hockey Association, documented here in 2021, is one example where the standards and ideals match the desires and needs of families and young athletes. Let’s hope smaller, independent groups like SSHA rebuild youth hockey to the standards that some of us grew up with years ago.
While youth hockey is terminally ill in Canada, is there hope for our youth to benefit from other sport participation?
Participation levels are growing in soccer and basketball. Soccer is the most popular youth sport in Canada currently. The lower barriers to participation are a big reason why. Warning to the wise, these sports have governing bodies at multiple levels just as hockey does, so they are not immune to their deficiencies.
Youth sport must continue to play a role in the long-term development of the individual, including physical literacy and mental health. The “win at all costs” and year-round nature of many sports is turning more people away overall and slow down any sport’s progress in terms of participation.
The Physical Movement will continue to share ways that youth sport can progress for the greater good, and maybe the demise of youth hockey participation in Canada will be the tipping point for other sports to save themselves.
At the end of the day, the future of youth sports lies in the hands of those managing these organizations.
Let’s see that statement again from about youth hockey in Canada and let’s keep it as a reminder of what can go wrong if the stewardship goes down the wrong path.
And when you really boil it down to why; there’s just not enough time, energy, capacity, desire or support to build this into a proper, quality service offering.