Quote:
Originally Posted by metroneck
I think you are touching on a better question, that could actually make a difference.
Should the Flames/ NHL/ Hockey Canada etc be putting more resources into programs to support and encourage minorities, non-traditional hockey cultures, and people with lower socio-economic status to play hockey at a higher level.
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CSEC and Hockey Canada should 100% be investing more in new customer acquisition and doing more to capture youth attention in Canada's changing demographics.
The stats tell a different story. According to Stats Canada figures, the median wage of the 250-300k newcomers entering Canada each year under the skilled worker, skilled trades, and Canadian Class immigration programs exceeds the median wage of Canadian citizens by roughly 20-25%. These are people aged 25-40 with young families or are ready to start families in Canada.
If Hockey Canada wants to increase interest in hockey and cascade some of that interest into youth registration, which also benefits the CHL/NHL by creating more fans, they need to expose these younger, higher-than-median-wage earning individuals and families to the sport.
Hockey Canada isn't doing enough in generate interest amongst visible minorities at the present time, especially at the grassroots level, and they'll only be able to milk their rapidly aging fanbase of existing "Canadian" hockey fans for so long.
And personally, more diversity is good. I played 10 years of minor hockey in Calgary as a visible minority and only ever played with two black kids, two brown kids, and a handful of asian kids in that span. It would have been nice to see a little more representation of non-Caucasians in the sport. The demographics are slightly better now, but hockey is still very inaccessible to the vast majority of visible minorities. Why would they play hockey when soccer, basketball, and other sports are easier to play and also played by their social circles (aka non-Caucasians)