Lack of interest?

The Kingslayer

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Aug 26, 2004
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Siem Reap, Cambodia
Have kids lost interest in hockey... ice and street? I remember my routine when I was 12(which was back in 96) Go to school, come home, get something to eat, go play hockey, come home, take a shower, do some homework and go to sleep. It was like that up until I was 17 nearly everyday. It wasn't just my routine it was 25 other guys as well maybe not in that order lol. I remember when hockey meant popularity among peers and the ladies, but now it seems like none of the kids in the neighborhood play anything hockey or any other sport. It makes me kinda sad because some of my greatest memories were of playing hockey and the guy talks after we were done those were great as most of my friends were 3-4 years older and had experinced more then I had....but enough about me someone please tell me why dont kids play hockey anymore? Is it the Internet? Playstation? ESPN?
 

Petey21

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Dec 19, 2003
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I recognize this situation as well, kids don't even play street hockey anymore, not like we used to when I was a kid anyway. It's probably a combination of those three: internet, video games and television.

And sadly I think another reason is that some kids of today don't look up to athletes as much as they once did, as they've been brainwashed by reality shows like Big Brother and wanna become a "reality celeb" instead of a pro athlete. :shakehead
 

The Kingslayer

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Petey21 said:
I recognize this situation as well, kids don't even play street hockey anymore, not like we used to when I was a kid anyway. It's probably a combination of those three: internet, video games and television.

And sadly I think another reason is that some kids of today don't look up to athletes as much as they once did, as they've been brainwashed by reality shows like Big Brother and wanna become a "reality celeb" instead of a pro athlete. :shakehead

And they wonder why the obesity rate is so high :biglaugh: Now that I look back at it me and my group of friends were very organized. We had two nets, great goalie equipment and above all 25-30 guys who were full of energy and egos to boot. We got to a point where we actually kept stats for both goalies and forwards and I think that gave people incentive to play well...btw this is all street hockey. Im 21 now and I can't believe how much I miss those days.
 

stick9

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Aug 12, 2004
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I live in the US and grew up on a lake in New England. Me and my firends would spend all day Saturday and Sunday out on the ice playing hockey. We would play until we couldn't see the puck anymore. There were always tons of other kids out there too...all ages.

I don't see that now, but intrest in the sport is higher now then it was back then. Back then playing youth hockey was something only the rich kids did. We were a middle class family and there was no way my parents were spending that type of money just so I could play hockey. It's not like that now. Kids from all backgrounds play youth hockey, even girls. Which in my day a girl at the rink had skates with toe picks, not sticks and pads.

So I wonder if it has something to do with how accessable youth hockey is now. In other words are kids getting their puck fix at the rinks instead of the ponds and driveways.
 

Icer

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Oct 15, 2004
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I think you guys just need to know where to look.

Here in East Grand Rapids, MI we've got hockey on Reed's Lake and Fisk Lake every weekend as long as the weather holds. I drop by to play some times but they put this old man to shame. I assume they play after school, too, but I'm at work. In the summer, they switch over to street hockey, lacrosse, and soccer. There's also a roller hockey rink in Walker (outside Walker Ice and Fitness) that sees a lot of use.

A friend of mine lives in Brighton, MI and he and a bunch of his neighbors play roller hockey every night after work in the circle at the end of their street.

I previously lived in Chicago and there's a continuous roller hockey game at North Avenue Beach from Memorial Day to Labor Day. As long as it's light outside, there's usually a bunch of guys playing.

Even in Cape Coral, Florida. I was down visiting my FIL about a year ago and took a jog down to the park. There were three pickup roller hockey games playing on the tennis courts.

Why don't you try dragging out the nets some times and see what happens. If I set up outside in front of our house and start playing with my daughter and son, pretty soon I got about half a dozen neighborhood kids asking to join in.
 

Terrier

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Sep 30, 2003
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Kids are playing hockey and other sports, it's just that the out-in-the-open, pick-up variety has virtually disappeared. When I was growing up in Vermont in the 70's, summers meant playing pick-up four-on-four baseball at the elementary school field and winters meant skiing and skating, on ponds and sometimes on ice-covered cornfields. A playground near my apartment provides a good example of how things have changed. It contains a baseball field, a basketball court and a skateboarding park. Most of the time when I pass by these days, virtually every kid there is skateboarding. Has anyone here actually seen a group of kids get together on their own for a game of pick-up soccer?
 

RangersMoogle

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Oct 25, 2005
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****, I'd love to run into a drop in street game, I live in a small town of about 1,000 in southern Ohio, not much hockey here. Hell I can count all the guys in town who play hockey on one hand, and by no coincidence, I know all of them. I have a full set of goalie gear and it's rare I get a chance to play net anymore, can't find anyone to play with outside of a couple mates who drop by to shoot pucks at me in my driveway on occasion.

When I head out grocery shopping or some other good **** I never see any kids playing hockey, I don't even see nets anywhere. Hockey's growing in America, but casual hockey seems to fading away in a lot of areas, though.
 

barfy2000

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Jun 23, 2005
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Whitby, Ontario
Me and my friends still play every day after they are finished school for the day. We found a great place to play. Pretty much a lacrosse box, complete with boards, lines and creases.
 

Steelhead16

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Jan 29, 2005
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Boise, ID
It is certainly different than when I was a kid but at least here I think it's popular. Kids have a lot more things to do now than we did when we were kids but my son is a peewee and there are 8 peewee teams just in the house league alone. I live in Boise ID. and there are only 200,000 people here and hockey is relatively new here. They've had minor league hockey for less than 10 years and the ice rink is less than 10 years old but the house leagues here have at least 6 teams in every age division plus J.V. and Varsity hockey in all 10 high schools and then travelling teams on top of that. I grew up in California an we only had 1 team in each age division and no high school hockey. My son also plays baseball and basketball and they certainly have more kids playing but they've been around a lot longer. I can't speak for everywhere else in the world but at least right here I think the intrest in hockey is pretty good. I hope it gets even better.
 

KRM

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Jun 9, 2005
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Gothenburg
I used too play a lot of street hockey and there were even some leagues in the area. But it must be 10 years since I saw anyone play where everyone used too play.
 
I don't know about other cities, but here there is so much organised hockey among kids that the last thing they want to do is play street hockey. A friend who coaches tells me that his atoms are on the ice 4 times a week and that there is some kind of tournament almost once a month. It's insane.

When i grew up until we hit Bantam it was one practice and one game per week. That was pretty much it. Now I hear that most minor teams still have the one practice but are playing 2 and sometimes 3 games a week. Small wonder that the passion (much less the fundamental skills) have diminished.
 

Polska

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May 25, 2004
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Vancouver
Ya, I don't see anyone playing street hockey anymore, neither in my old neighborhood or in my new one.

We used to have kids from about three different neighborhoods converge to play in one big *** game everyday after school. And on occassion we would organise neighborhood vs. neighborhood games. Those were the best, lol, representing your neighborhood. One of my younger buddies recently confessed that he balled for like an hour after we lost one of those games. Haha, he was about 12 at the time and took it more seriously than ice hockey. We kept stats sometimes also.

Man, those days were awesome. Kids are really missing out nowadays. ****, I hate videogames, that's all my younger brother does, what a waste.
 

OrrNumber4

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Jul 25, 2002
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Malefic74 said:
I don't know about other cities, but here there is so much organised hockey among kids that the last thing they want to do is play street hockey. A friend who coaches tells me that his atoms are on the ice 4 times a week and that there is some kind of tournament almost once a month. It's insane.

I agree completely. I would love to have pick-up hockey without all the stupid things you have to deal with in an organized league.

I advanced up to a pretty high level, and I had about 18 hours of organized practice a week as well as 2 or three games, not to mention tournaments. When trying to balance academic requirements, which were far more important, it was difficult to fit the demands of organized hockey.
 

The Kingslayer

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The major difference i found with playing street hockey and organized hockey is that in street hockey I can try a whole bunch of things creatively and wouldnt have to worry about being benched or be yelled at by my coach. The chance to do things you wouldnt otherwise do in organized hockey is what I love about street hockey the imagination and the chance to pull tricks. We made the rules if we felt the deflection was from a high stick we called it, everyone was a forward and a d-men it didnt't matter.
 

crashlanding

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Nov 29, 2005
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Chicago
I think the key is, if you're in a more urban area, to just find an outdoor rink and go by yourself and shoot around a lot. Eventually you'll run into some guys who will run into more guys and you could get a game going on a Saturday afternoon or something. That's what happened to me recently and now there's a pretty good game every week with two goalies and everything.

As for kids playing street hockey I remember playing everyday for about a year and a half with my neighborhood in suburban NJ (it was 94, the Rangers and the Devils were both good so there was a lot of interest). After that time though it just ended. I don't even see kids outside playing basketball too often even. It's a little depressing. I really think it's because organized sports are everywhere now. Someone's got soccer practice while someone else has lacrosse practice and when that's over the kids are tired and don't want to play sports for the rest of the day. It just seems too hard to organize and that's a shame. Some of my best memories are the games where you can try a cool stickhandling move you thought of and if it doesn't work nobody cares. Or the games that just go on for hours and hours and you don't care about the score but you still want to get that pass across on the 2 on 1. I'm afraid most kids will look at organized teams as more of an obligation than a time to just enjoy the game. If it wasn't for those afterschool games twelve years ago I wouldn't be here today.
 

ATL Star

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Mar 25, 2006
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Atlanta, GA
As someone who plays youth hockey (18 year old), I can give you the source as to why kids aren't playing as much hockey: It's not on television. In HS, I played football and basketball and hockey in a seperate league.

I started playing all 3 early because all 3 were on television often and I got the chance to pickup all of them early, and I live in the SOUTH (Atlanta)

With Hockey rarely on television these days, and I mean all the time, it is easy to see why baseball, football and basketball are going to be more popular.

The show I watch nightly is Sportscenter. I never miss it. Along with SportsCenter I watch most of the sport specific shows like college gameday (football & basketball) nfl tonight, baseball tonight. The NHL should have signed with ESPN for lower to free to keep them on that network. NHL tonight was a great show, and I miss it. The coverage on sportscenter is abysmal and I wish it wasn't. The playoffs need to be on national television and some aren't. Point is, if it isn't on television I don't care about it.

Kids are lazier, but when they play sports, they play what they see most, and the dreams of playing in front of crowds and getting national attention is a factor. While most kids don't make the bigs, the thought of it is good enough to get someone at least started.

Also, hockey is a sport where a rink is needed. The other sports: football, baseball and basketball can be played anywhere, and equipment is much cheaper. Playing football in the street all you need is a ball. Baseball requires a ball and glove. Basketball needs a ball and a hoop. To play hockey, you need skates, a stick, puck, 2 nets, flat surface, it's a big hassle.

Overall though, building more rinks and making equipment cheaper combined with a greater television coverage package will once again keep kids interested.
 
Nov 29, 2003
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A lot of kids seem to prefer to stay inside, avoid the sun and listen to emo now a days. I've kind of forced and coerced most of my friends into joining my hockey and lacrosse leagues, and in turn I've agreed to play in their indoor soccer league.

I know I have one friend who will make up shoddy excuses just to get out of pick up games when a bunch of us get together, and I have other friends who will randomly get us together and we'll end up playing soccer or something.

It just depends on the kids I guess.
 

Phoenix

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Mar 26, 2006
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I'm Australian so hockey has never been big for us! But the obesity is visibly obviously more in primary school kids (ie. 5-12year olds) compared to when I went thru. Physical activity is definitely lower I reckon, but we eat more junk than we used to before too.
 

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