Youth Hockey Growth in the United States

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I. Introduction Youth Hockey Growth in the United States is the main focus of this research. The sport of hockey has been around for nearly 200 years. The game was produced from a form of stick and ball games started by immigrants. These immigrants were British soldiers who brought their type of hockey to Canada. Paintings from the 1830’s depict the sport of ice-hockey taking off in Canada.(Garth, Vaughan) As the sport grew so did the age groups in which it was played. Many sports start their growth from the elders down to the youth. The same can be said for ice-hockey. Many gentlemen started to play the sport as a way to pass the time. This is when the children began to take a liking to the sport. Fathers began to teach their children the fundamentals and from there, the rest is history. This research will jump forward in time to the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Starting from youth hockey where the interest in the sport is developed, was a great way to see why there has been an increase in the popularity of the sport across the nation, especially in regions not normally known as hockey areas. According to USA Hockey and the NHL, youth hockey has been on the rise for the last decade in almost every state. This research is aimed at finding out where and why this increase is happening. A. Research Questions - What is the distribution of youth hockey participation in the United States? - What states are increasing youth hockey participation? - What states are decreasing youth hockey participation? - Are there certain regions where hockey is growing? - Are factors such as climate, median income or population leading to growth in certain states? Or decline in certain states? B. Significance The importance of... ... middle of paper ... ...h hockey is growing in over 80% of the United States. Works Cited Armentrout , Suzannah, and Cindra Kamphoff. 2011. Organizational barriers and factors that contribute to youth hockey attrition. Journal of Sports Behavior (2): 121-136. Bramley, H, C Kroft, D Polk, T Newberry, and M Silvis. 2012. Do Youth Hockey Coaches Allow Players With a Known Concussion to Participate in a Game? Clinical Pediatrics. (3): 283-287. Gillis, Charlie. 2012. The United States of Hockey. Maclean's. (7): 50-52. Gillis, Charlie. 2010. Not just our game, anymore: the hockey landscape has shifted. Can Canadians keep up? Maclean's. (8): 40-41. Poplawski, Wade, and Michael O'hara. 2014. The Feasibility of Potential NHL Markets under the New Collective Bargaining Agreement. Journal of Sports Economics. (1): 64-77. Vaughan, Garth. Birthplace of Hockey. Nova Scotia: n.p., 2009. Print.

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