Hockey in Canada is becoming a sport for the rich, according to
a James Mirtle article in The Globe and Mail.
Due to the rising costs of ice-time, special training and
elite traveling teams, many parents can no longer afford to register their
children in hockey.
Retired NHL superstar turned player agent Bobby Orr talked
about how kids are registering in summer training camps in a recent interview
with Maclean’s magazine.
Orr believes it is healthy for kids to play a variety of
sports and that kids now play too much hockey year round. He says that this, along with the need many parents
feel to find advisory agents at increasingly younger ages, is unnecessary.
Hockey is already at a disadvantage in terms of finding
talent compared to other sports. Unlike
sports like basketball, rugby, and soccer where a child only needs a ball and the
right footwear, hockey requires a stick, skates, expensive ice time and
a full set of equipment.
I believe that this is going to be a big problem for Canadian hockey going forward. Many talented young kids who do not come from rich families will no longer get a chance to be noticed. Also, families who love hockey and do not have the money are getting pushed out of the sport.
Hockey is an important part of Canadian cultural identity and it is important to make sure that all kids have the opportunity to play it.
For more on this check out these resources
I grew up in a hockey family. All five kids played hockey, and now that we are all adults, we all continue to play at various levels. mostly in adult hockey leagues that are just for fun. If the cost of hockey was as high when I was a kid as it is now, there is no way my parents could have afforded for all of us to play year after year. At that time, kids hockey was just that. I played on a neighbourhood team with my two little brothers and then later, when I switched to women’s, on the same team as my older sister. Now, it seems they are starting all kinds of elite training for kids as young as 6 or 7. I don't think it is going to produce better hockey players, rather it is just going to lead for burn out for kids and parents, and exclude players from middle and lower incomes.
ReplyDeleteEmily Cain