I think the number one downturn in registration is the cost. $12,000/yr to play AAA hockey in the GTA. $10,000 to play in the top female leagues. On top of that fee, players are paying for personal trainers, private skills training, mental health coaches..etc. People simply cannot afford it, or choose there are much better things to put that money towards.
I agree that the lack of "outdoor ice" may be an issue but I also don't see kids playing even road hockey. I grew up in Northern Ontario where there was more ice to skate on than you could hope for. But even on days that we couldn't get to the outdoor rink or pond, we'd be in the street playing road hockey. That does not happen anymore.
Finally, and I think this contributes to the lack of "playing just to play", I think that hockey has become a job for these kids. It's all training, all the time. Even the players that aren't going anywhere. A week in the life of a rep hockey player looks like this:
- Monday - Practice
- Tuesday - Private Skills Training
- Wednesday - Dryland
- Thursday - Practice
- Friday - Day Off (Travel if playing out of town)
- Saturday - Game
- Sunday - Game
- Rinse and Repeat.
With the above, how can we expect these kids to keep up. They either exhaust themselves, fall out of love with the game, or decide that if they're not doing all that, they're not going to make it, so they give up.
