Quote:
Originally Posted by driveway
The best way to build hockey fans is to have people play hockey. So, in order to grow hockey, what needs to be looked at are the obstacles to people playing. These obstacles are, in order of importance:
1. The cost of the game. This includes equipment and ice time.
2. Access to ice.
I'm going to focus on the first problem.
One can go on and one about best-on-best tournaments and their value, quality television, etc., but if you really want more people playing, the cost of equipment needs to come down.
What I'd like to see is the major manufacturers, Nike and Adidas, be asked by the NHL to produce a "starter set." This would be a complete set of safety-rated gear, everything a kid needs to start playing hockey. This gear should be available for kids aged 6-12 in appropriate sizes. The price for the complete set should be no more than $100 USD.
The NHL and I'd suggest the IIHF should help the manufacturers subsidize these starter kits, in particular I'd suggest the NHL offer free, or low-cost sponsorship to Nike and Adidas, allow them to slap players and logos all over the gear without having to pay for it.
Obviously, the manufacturers should be able to produce better gear for kids which commands higher prices. But if we want people playing the game, a parent, school, or club should be able to put a 7-year old kid on the ice in new, safe gear, for a hundred bucks.
As people improve and continue in the sport, they'll want to get better, more expensive gear, but I can't think of anything that would be better for hockey, short of a global ice-age, than high-quality, low-cost hockey gear.
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You can get starter kits for younger kids that range in price from $80 - $120. Canadian Tire has the Jonethan Toews sets that basically include pants, shin pads, elbow pads, shoulder pads, gloves and a small bag. The set is made by Bauer.
Chevy had (maybe still has) a promotion where you can get a voucher for a free helmet for a five year old registered in minor hockey. You go down to your local dealership and show them that your kid is registered in minor hocky and their birth year. They give you a certificate for a free helmet from Sport Chek. There are also other coupons for equipment from Bauer in the package.
Access to ice is an interesting question. With the reduction in minor hockey registration, ice is becoming more and more available in some communities. Larger centers like Calgary probably do suffer from a lack of available ice because of the huge growth rate of the city over the last decade.
One thing that Red Deer does very well, I'm not sure about Calgary, is buiding and maintaining out door rinks. Not sure how many we have here in Red Deer, but pretty much every community has one, with boards, lights, and hockey goals. Only the older neighborhoods have heated shack's to put your skates on though. I take my six year old son out on our local rink a few nights a week if the weather is good.