Survey: hockey popularity dropping over mounting costs
Posted April 7, 2011 3:58 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Millions of eyes will focus on “Canada’s Game” in the coming weeks during the NHL playoffs, but this country’s hockey dominance appears to be waning. Minor hockey enrollment has been on the decline in recent years and a new survey on the cost of the game might explain why.
The survey of hockey parents shows that half of them expect to spend at least a grand next season to keep their kids in the game. As many as 90 per cent say they have already begun saving money for enrollment, equipment, and travel.
Pete Quivillon is with KidSport BC, which helps low income families, and says a lot of kids need help to stay in the game. “When all is said and done, this year we’ll have provided just over a million dollars in grants directly to kids to help pay the costs of sport.”
He says already, hockey is not number one in terms of their funding. “Right now soccer is the number one sport that we fund, just by virtue of the numbers of kids that are participating. Hockey is number two.”
Stats Canada numbers show that the number of children under 15 who play hockey is on the decline and will continue to drop in the coming years.
