Hockey wasn't in the cards for the Gershkovich family living in the Phoenix area until they were approached about a program that provided free equipment and an eight-week try-out program.
That's what drew us to it, said Phil Gershkovich, whose sons Eli and Josh both got involved and Josh still plays in high school. That brings in a lot of people, and that's a good way to go.
The United States has seen steady growth in the sport over the past decade, while Canada has struggled with youth numbers decrease significantly over the same period. Efforts by USA Hockey, National Hockey League teams and others to bring in more diverse families and a boom in participation by girls in particular have fueled the increase and opened the door for the U.S. to one day overtake its neighbor to the north as the main power of the game.
When I was younger, it was always Canada, said Logan Cooley, a Pittsburgh native and U.S. National Team Development Program graduate who just completed his first NHL season with Arizona. There were even kids my age who moved to Canada and all you heard about was hockey in Canada and all the stars they had. But now it's really cool to see the US kind of joining them.
GIRLS WHO GROW THE GAME
USA Hockey reported 387,910 registered youth players in 2022-2023, compared to just under 340,000 in 2009-2010, and an increase of more than 12%. In its most recent annual report, the organization said more than 70,000 girls under the age of 18 are registered to play, which could soon surpass Canada.
Kevin Erlenbach of USA Hockey specifically mentioned a 94% increase at age 8 and younger.
Whether it's women's hockey, as long as it's normal disadvantaged communities, even for our disabled community, if you can see it, you can be it and it will be much more impactful, says Erlenbach, the organization's associate director of membership.
More signings could come in that department after the first season of the Professional women's hockey league, although the success of the US national team at the recent Olympics has also played a role in increased girls participation. Canadian star Brianne Jenner said she believes the PWHL will change our sport more than anything ever has, and I think it will change our communities too.
The communities involved in hockey are already changing, with industry leaders hoping to appeal to people who never saw the sport as a place for them. Sean Grevy is based in New York 43 Oak Foundationwhich provides opportunities for minority and disadvantaged children to learn how to progress in the game, now involves 150 families.
“My main goal, my main focus, my main priority with this program is to make this sport more inclusive so that other people from different backgrounds experience the same level of camaraderie that we experienced as kids,” Grevy said.
VARIOUS PARTICIPATION
Sky Silverstein, the program's first graduate who now works for 43 Oak, is an example of that progress. Silverstein, who is Black, played Division III hockey at Endicott College and UMass-Dartmouth and wants kids who look up to him to know there is a path for them.
People will tell you, 'It's a white sport,' and that's not what we want it to be, but that's the way it is, Silverstein said. You have to have money, at least a little. … It's just one of those things. You must have access to the game.
Free programs and efforts to learn to play are considered crucial. But a major reason for the growth in the U.S. has to do with changes implemented more than a decade ago at the national level, including a mandate that youth play on one-third of an ice rink, effectively creating room to increase the number of skaters to triple. on the ice at the same time and give them more opportunities to touch the puck, hone their skills and enjoy the experience more.
It also helped a lot with employee retention just because it was a completely different experience and more cost-effective, Erlenbach said.
Cost remains a concern for hockey in North America, not just for equipment, but for ice time, coaching and more. That's where organizations like 43 Oak come in, and the success the foundation has had with financial help from UBS and the New York Islanders is being replicated across the country.
“We have to work together to grow together,” Grevy said. We encourage that. We don't want to be the only ones doing this. This is not a competition for us. In fact, it is changing the space of diverse hockey and creating an ecosystem where we all work together.
This story has been updated to remove an incorrect reference to total U.S. registration numbers surpassing Canada in 2022.
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