OT: Demographic Shift in Canada favors basketball and soccer

discostu

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Nov 12, 2002
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Saint Teemu said:
I agree with this completely. It's obscenely expensive to buy all the gear for hockey, and you still have to factor in all the little extra costs. Here's a fictionalized example:
"Great news, Dad! I made the AAA traveling team. Now I need red gloves, blue pants, and a yellow helmet to match the team colours. This year we're going to that tournament in Quebec City if I sell 8,500 boxes of chocolate almonds, or if you just shell out $2,000. By the way, my Easton Synergy stick broke when I looked at it sideways. I need $250 to replace it."

I can certainly see how buying a new pair of soccer cleats every year would be a lot more palatable.

Your comment about ice availability is spot on, too. In fact, the cost of gear and the crap ice times my team was allocated were instrumental in me quitting playing beer league hockey. I kind of miss it, but I've been considering playing indoor soccer as a replacement sport.

THis is also something that's impacting the growth of hockey. In Ottawa, we're seeing a growing number of indoor fields. It's leading to more people playing soccer year-round, and any time I go to an indoor field, much of the space is being used for youth clinics. There seems to be more focus on kids playing soccer at a more competitive level, rather than it just being a basic participatory sport, which described a great deal of the kids playing it in the past.
 

Roy G Biv*

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Jazz said:
I think that Hockey Canada could help with this regard.

Egs could be to encourage local ethnic shows to make shows at a local rink, supporting a local team or something like that, or give away merchandise etc.

Also, the first wave of immigrants from 70s and 80s have kids now that have grown up with hockey, you will see increasing visible-minority representation (albeit slowly at first) within the junior ranks and eventually the NHL. Once one of these players will make it big and draw more attention to hockey within an ethnic group, things will change.

Yup. All my uncles and aunts in Vancouver are hockey fans, because they grew up here.

I would be one of those visible minorities who play hockey.
 

Anksun

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Dec 13, 2002
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Build more Ice Rinks now!!!

And put a 50% extra tax on anything relate to Basketball.

Unless the game of Basketball is cut from 60 minutes to 2 minutes.

"He's all aloooneeee, will he gets iiiiittt?? Duuuuuunnkkkk, what a thing of beautyyyy. He did it, he beats an empty net without having to jump because he's 7'2"..."

edit: Soccer is another story. It's actually alright. Not going to hurt hockey as much as some are implying because those are somewhat of complimentary to each other. Much like Hockey and baseball are right now. Baseball will take an hard hit however. It's already very visible in Montreal where some (many) baseball park have been close to the benefit of some new soccers parks.

As a growing teenager, i would have choose hockey-soccer over hockey-baseball. And honestly, it might actually makes up for better players (if they dont choose soccer).
 

Butch 19

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PortlandRanger said:
What if they just prefer the games? That cannot be it?

Nope, that cannot be.

I've tried to watch soccer and enjoy it. It can't be done. God, what a boring game! I do not see how a hockey fan can also like soccer. Watch a game sometime, and just watch how defensive it is. It seems way over half of the passes are backwards toward your own goal.

The longevity of soccer is its good point, but also its bad point too. Since it has such a long history, nothing ever changes. Put in a "blue line" for offsides, and scoring will go up, and more people will watch. And poeple think NHL players dive? - soccer players are much worse.

All in all, soccer is unwatchable.
 

GKJ

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It's called immigration people, get used to it. Toronto didn't get it's booming population from 100% anti-separtists and Newfoundlanders.
 

Tb0ne

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Sure, but I think the sports are going after different talent pools... there can only be so many people who are taller than 6'5... and I'm no expert on basketball, but I imagine height is an extreamly important factor so they won't be competing for athletes so much that it would cause that much of an impact on hockey.

Soccer players are probably on the shorter side, so that sport might compete with hockey for the same athletes.. and Hockey might become less popular, but it will always be big in Canada. Having the MLS in Toronto, and possibly Vancouver once we get our new soccer arena downtown will definatly cause growth in the sport, but that is a good thing.
 

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