Family expenditure on child playing ice hockey in the U.S. 2019 | Statista (2024)

FAQs

How many kids play hockey in the USA? ›

Ice hockey participation in the U.S. 2010-2021

In 2021, roughly 2.31 million people in the United States played ice hockey at least once in that year.

USA Hockey has nurtured the growth of female hockey since the 1970s, and today, girls hockey is among the fastest-growing youth sports in the United States. In the 2018-19 season, more girls and women participated in ice hockey than ever before with nearly 83,000 lacing up the skates.

According to the source, 1.2 percent of children participated in ice hockey on a regular basis in 2019, up from 0.5 percent in 2008.

About 60 million children and teens from age 6 to 18 participate in organized sports each year. Of those, about 27 percent are involved in only one sport, according to the National Council of Youth Sports. Increasingly, they're training or competing year-round, often on multiple teams.

When it comes to boys who play hockey, the chances are about 1-in-1,000 of playing one NHL game. But even when you get to the elite levels such as major junior hockey, the odds are still against you. The fact is that players who play at that level basically have less than a 1-in-5 chance to play a game in the NHL.

Massachusetts has emerged as the premier state in hockey over the past decade. This status has been bolstered by several factors, including its well-pedigreed collegiate teams and a great overall atmosphere for playing ice hockey. At the college level, Massachusetts has long had an abundance of top-tier programs.

The number of high school ice hockey players in the United States reached a little over 42 thousand in the school year 2021/2022. This figure was the lowest recorded since the beginning of the 2010s, when close to 46 thousand high schoolers played ice hockey across the North American country.

Avalanche Celebrates the City of Denver as "Hockey Capital USA"

While there may always be more men than women playing hockey, that does not mean that it is a feminine sport. Over 77,500 women play hockey in the United States alone. Women's teams have had some of the best results at the Winter Olympics, in addition to winning gold in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

What percent of NHL is white? ›

As per the report, the NHL's workforce is 83.6 percent white, 4.17 percent Asian and 3.74 percent Black.

Manon Rheaume's participation in the NHL was a groundbreaking and revolutionary moment for the sport of ice hockey, especially for female athletes. In 1992, Manon became the first woman to ever play in an NHL game.

In the United States, about 70% of kids quit playing ice hockey by the time they are 13 years old. The main reason why kids quit playing ice hockey is because they are not having fun anymore.

The National Hockey League (NHL) is rapidly elevating its position as a key participant in the sports entertainment sector. The league has significantly surged in its popularity and is expanding its fanbase in recent years.

The Aspen Institute estimated U.S. families spend $30 to $40 billion annually on their children's sports activities. This is based on Aspen's analysis of parent survey and national sport participation data. That's more than the annual revenues of any professional league.

Data from the National Health Interview Survey

In 2020, 54.1% of children aged 6–17 years participated in sports during the past 12 months. The higher the level of parents' education, the more likely children and adolescents were to participate in sports.

Rob Vollman summarizes this quite well in his book Stat Shot: The Ultimate Guide to Hockey Analytics: “Most players hit their peak age by age 24 or 25 then decline gradually until age 30, at which point their performance can begin to tumble more noticeably with the risk of absolute collapse by age 34 or 35.”

Kids that start hockey before they are physically and mentally ready are more likely to have a negative experience. It is never too late to start playing hockey. Players have joined hockey programs at 12-13 years old and still made varsity hockey teams.

What Age Do Nhl Players Start To Decline? There is no definitive answer to this question as each player is different. However, most players start to decline in their late 20s or early 30s. This is due to the wear and tear on their bodies from years of playing a physical sport.

Why isn't hockey more popular in the US? ›

Many families simply cannot afford to have a child to play hockey. Some people don't have easy access to a hockey rink. Ice time can be pricey, and there may be select hours to practice. Markoulis also said the marketability of the NHL's top prospects is lagging when compared with basketball, baseball and football.

Producing the largest amount of American-born National Hockey League talent has long been part of the lore of Minnesota hockey. Minnesota has produced nearly 60 more NHL players than the next closest state, Massachusetts, and nearly 100 more than the third place state of Michigan.

One reason for the decline in viewership may be the lack of a national broadcast deal in the United States. Currently, games are split between several different networks, making it harder for fans to access and follow their favourite teams.

The hardest major sport to play in college? For boys, it's wrestling (2.7 percent), then volleyball (3.3 percent) and basketball (3.5 percent). For girls, it's a tie between volleyball (3.9 percent) and basketball (3.9 percent). And that's for Divisions I-III.

Minnesota State Tournament Is Important

The Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament is one of the biggest hockey tournaments in the country and it showcases some of the best talents to ever come out of the state.

– NCAA Division I has 79 colleges offering 12 Scholarships per team. – NCAA Division II has 33 colleges offering 6.3 Scholarships per team. – NCAA Division III has 165 colleges with athletic scholarships unavailable.

The most popular team sports in the United States are American football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, and soccer.

Warroad, Minnesota has been referred to as "Hockeytown" for over 50 years. The Hockeytown Holiday Classic has been played in Warroad since 1994.

Boston is the #1 best city for hockey fans.

New York secured fourth place. Boston racked up impressive scores for NHL Teams Performance, but the report also pointed out that city has one of the steepest NHL Game Ticket Price Averages.

Sports tend to be a young person's game, with most of the best professional athletes in their 20s. Players tend to retire in their 30s — even the best ones — however, some are able to hold on for a little longer.

What is the racial makeup of the NHL? ›

According to the report, 83.6% of employees across the NHL and its teams are white, 4.17% Asian, 3.74% Black, 3.71% Hispanic/Latino and 0.5% Indigenous, while 2.48% of employees opted not to answer.

USA Hockey recommends that girls should stop playing with boys when, due to size or speed, the player would be at risk of injury due to full-contact checking. Not all girls are big enough or have the confidence to play with boys once the boys have hit puberty.

Twenty-five out of the 32 NHL teams are based in the United States. The other 7 teams are based in the United States' northern neighbor of Canada.

In addition to black and white players, other races and ethnicities represented in the NHL include players of Asian, Latino, and Middle Eastern descent.

It's a traditionally White sport that has made little headway into communities of color because of the cost of play, the scarcity of ice time and its own self-perpetuating lack of diversity.

The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada.

A puck bunny is a term used to describe a female ice hockey fan whose interest in the sport is purported to be primarily motivated by sexual attraction to the players rather than enjoyment of the game itself.

Yes. The first woman to compete at a major league level in one of the major North American sports leagues was Manon Rheaume, the greatest women's ice hockey goaltender to ever play the game. She played in a preseason game for the Tampa Bay Lightning in both 1992 and 1993.

The main reasons kids quit sports are: It's not fun anymore. Pressure to perform...and injuries that can result from overtraining due to that pressure to perform. Their own perceptions of their own lack of competence at the sport.

There are so many benefits of playing sports in childhood, including boosts in physical health and social and emotional skills. However, about 70 percent of kids stop playing sports by age 13, says a poll from the National Alliance for Youth Sports. The reason? “It's just not fun anymore.”

What sports do most kids quit at 13? ›

Twenty million kids register each year for youth hockey, football, baseball, soccer, and other competitive sports. The National Alliance for Sports reports that 70 percent of these kids quit playing these league sports by age 13 -- and never play them again.

Cost Range: $2,700 to $17,000+

In between hockey sticks, bags, skates, jerseys, stick tape, and the various pads that hockey requires, and other protective equipment, you can expect to pay around $500. Some equipment can be used year after year, but expect skates, which range from $100 – $400, to be a yearly expense.

At the top of the chart -- i.e., the most expensive sports -- are ice hockey and skiing/snowboarding.

Ice hockey (NHL)

Ice hockey has traditionally been considered the fourth of the US sports, although it has always been much less popular than American football or baseball. However, the game of hockey is widely followed especially in the northern US states, and in Canada.

Hockey possesses all of these characteristics in its players. For various reasons, it hasn't clicked in America yet. Hockey is the most American sport that the American people won't sit down and watch.

Ice hockey is traditionally popular in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, particularly in Massachusetts (and New England in general), Michigan, New York (especially Upstate New York) and Minnesota. Minnesota is known as the hockey capital of the US.

Hockey is often considered one of the hardest sports in the world due to a number of factors. One of the most significant is the speed and physicality of the game. Players skate at high speeds and are constantly in motion, making it difficult to maintain control of the puck and navigate the ice.

About Junior Hockey

USA Hockey's junior program provides opportunities for players ages 16-to-20 to hone and enhance their skills and is an important part of the organization's overall efforts related to player development.

There are 319 active players from the United States in the NHL at present. These 319 active players have played 88,869 games across their careers.

Prices in the $8000 and up range are pricing some players out of being able to play Tier 3.

Do you get paid for junior hockey? ›

As of Jun 6, 2023, the average annual pay for a Junior Hockey in the United States is $50,242 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $24.15 an hour.

There are some, very few, players that go directly from high school to the college hockey ranks. However, most players stay in the juniors' program until they age out at 20 years old and then attend college. Some players go on to play NCAA D1 and others NCAA DIII.

Many families simply cannot afford to have a child to play hockey. Some people don't have easy access to a hockey rink. Ice time can be pricey, and there may be select hours to practice. Markoulis also said the marketability of the NHL's top prospects is lagging when compared with basketball, baseball and football.

The National Hockey League (NHL) has seen a decline in viewership in recent years. One reason for the decline in viewership may be the lack of a national broadcast deal in the United States.

Hockey possesses all of these characteristics in its players. For various reasons, it hasn't clicked in America yet. Hockey is the most American sport that the American people won't sit down and watch.

Producing the largest amount of American-born National Hockey League talent has long been part of the lore of Minnesota hockey. Minnesota has produced nearly 60 more NHL players than the next closest state, Massachusetts, and nearly 100 more than the third place state of Michigan.

As of November 2022, the country with the highest number of active National Hockey League (NHL) players was Canada, with 993 active NHL players. Meanwhile, the United States listed 586 active NHL players in 2022, and Sweden reported 225.