While youth hockey participation in Canada shrinks, the US is seeing steady growth
Hockey was not in the cards for the Gershkovich family living in the Phoenix area until they were approached about a program that provided free gear and an eight-week program to try things out.
“That’s kind of what roped us in,” said Phil Gershkovich, whose sons Eli and Josh each got into it and Josh is still playing in high school. “That gets a lot of people in, and that’s a good avenue.”
The United States has experienced steady growth in the sport over the past decade while Canada grapples with youth numbers declining significantly over the same period of time. Efforts by USA Hockey, National Hockey League teams and others to bring in more diverse families
— and a boom especially in girls participation — have fueled the increase and opened the door for the U.S. to one day overtake its neighbor to the north as the game's preeminent power.
“When I was younger, it was always Canada,” said Logan Cooley, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of the U.S. National Team Development Program who just completed his first NHL season with Arizona. “There were even kind of kids from my age growing up moving to Canada and all you heard about was Canada hockey and all the stars they had. But now it’s really cool to see that the USA’s kind of right up there with them.”
USA Hockey reported 387,910 registered youth players in 2022-23 — up from just under 340,000 in 2009-10, and an increase of more than 12%. In its most recent annual report, the organization said over 70,000 girls under age 18 are registered to play, which could soon surpass Canada.
USA Hockey's Kevin Erlenbach cited specifically a 94% increase at age 8 and younger.
“Whether it’s female hockey, if it’s just underserved communities, even our disabled community, if you can see it, then you can be it and it makes way more impact,” said Erlenbach, the organization's assistant executive director of membership.
More gains could be coming in that department after the inaugural season of the Professional Women's Hockey League, though the success of the U.S. national team at recent Olympics also has played a part in increased girls' participation. Canadian star Brianne Jenner said she believes the PWHL is “going to change our sport more than anything ever has, and I think it’s also going to change our communities.”
The communities getting into hockey are already changing, with industry leaders hoping to tap into folks who never saw the sport as a place for them. Sean Grevy's New Yorkbased 43 Oak Foundation, which provides opportunities for minority and underprivileged kids to learn how to progress through the game, now has 150 families involved.
“My main goal, my main focus, my main priority with this program is to make this sport more inclusive so that other people from other backgrounds that experience that same level of camaraderie that we were also lucky enough to experience as kids ourselves,” Grevy said.