Participation numbers

jBlaze3000 · Post by **jBlaze3000** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 12:39 pm

I've read several times in various threads about how participation in youth hockey has been falling over the past couple decades but I haven't seen any concrete numbers that reflect this. I decided to go and find out for myself but so far I haven't had any luck even finding current participation levels for the state or my own district (district 10).

I know a while ago someone posted the district 10 particiption numbers (by association) on here but I believe the data was a couple years old. Does anyone know where I can find such information?

I've tried the Minnesota Hockey website and the district 10 website but neither has it posted.

Night Train · Post by **Night Train** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 12:49 pm

I know Minnesota Hockey is starting a new recruiting committee and hope for participation from each District in the State. My guess is they will have the numbers and won't have a problem sharing as it's a concern for all of us that love the sport. With the current economic climate I'll guess even more families may decide hockey isn't the path they want to go down. Grow your association mite numbers. Ultimately it's all about mite recruiting and retention.

elliott70 · Post by **elliott70** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:19 pm

I have the numbers but not at my fingertips.

Contact Carol Carlson
USA Hockey associate registrar for MN

jBlaze3000 · Post by **jBlaze3000** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:54 pm

Thanks!

jollyroger · Post by **jollyroger** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:25 pm

You have to look at the USA Hockey website--they have the numbers for the entire country by state, region, gender, age, etc. I think there's a Statistics menu or some such. Participation has been dropping for boys (youth) in Minnesota and is still growing for girls. However, I wonder if kids who play for MN Made and various club teams instead of their Associations are getting missed because they aren't registering with USA Hockey.

jBlaze3000 · Post by **jBlaze3000** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:42 pm

jollyroger wrote:However, I wonder if kids who play for MN Made and various club teams instead of their Associations are getting missed because they aren't registering with USA Hockey.

Possibly, but the number of kids that play club hockey in Minnesota that don't also play for an association can't be that high, can it?

jBlaze3000 · Post by **jBlaze3000** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 4:05 pm

So I did some searching on the USA Hockey website and here is what I found. These numbers are registered USA hockey players in the state of Minnesota, girls excluded (everyone knows that the popularity of girls hockey has exploded but I was more interested in what was going on with the boys):

Year Members
07/08 - 40,214
06/07 - 39,094
05/06 - 36,554
04/05 - 37,241
03/04 - 37,391
02/03 - 36,538
01/02 - 35,457
00/01 - 35,821

Prior to 2000 they only had numbers for the Minnkota district (MN, ND, SD) so the numbers weren't really accurate for Minnesota alone. From 2000 to 2008 there was a 12% increase in players so I don't know if I buy that the numbers are dwindling. I did see something about a slight trend of decreasing numbers in USA hockey as a whole, however.

***The only possible fluke in these numbers is that they only include registered USA hockey members. For example, from 1990 to 1994 the total USA membership went from 190,000 players to 400,000 (more likely that the # of registrations doubled, not the # of players). I think most, if not all kids in Minnesota are automatically registered with USA hockey when they register with their association so I think these numbers are probably pretty accurate.

I'm still searching for the district numbers...

elliott70 · Post by **elliott70** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 4:46 pm

email Carol Carlson
available on minnesotahockey.org board page

She will give you a PDF file by district (by association if you want) for boys, girls etc....
Her numbers are adjusted for dual registration etc...
and are easy to read and give more detail.

She will be happy to do it, but you may have to wait one or two days.

jBlaze3000 · Post by **jBlaze3000** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 6:46 pm

elliott70 wrote:email Carol Carlson
available on minnesotahockey.org board page

She will give you a PDF file by district (by association if you want) for boys, girls etc....
Her numbers are adjusted for dual registration etc...
and are easy to read and give more detail.

She will be happy to do it, but you may have to wait one or two days.

I emailed her and she responded right away but referred me to one of the district 10 people. Haven't heard back from him yet.