Hockey participation in British Columbia is rebounding after a pandemic-induced slump, with registrations surging past 63,000 this season.
People play pond hockey at Vanier Park after the pond froze over after numerous days unseasonably cold temperatures in Vancouver, on Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck\Participation in hockey in British Columbia was struggling in 2021 — the pandemic had dealt a heavy blow to player registrations, and numbers had already been flagging before COVID-19 arrived.
“I think there were a lot of families that were impacted at that time,” said Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association president Melanie Earland, whose group governs minor hockey in B.C.’s Lower Mainland, including Metro Vancouver.Player participation had peaked in 2016-2017 with more than 62,000 registrations, Hockey Canada statistics for B.C. show, falling under 58,000 just before the pandemic began in 2020, then plummeting to 39,056 that season. Rising costs and growing competition from other sports had also been chipping away at youth hockey participation. But that is now changing, with registration for this season in B.C. surging past the 63,000 mark, a rebound that follows a concerted effort to make the game more accessible, especially to groups not traditionally linked to the sport such as new Canadians and Indigenous communities. Tom Oberti, president of the West Vancouver Minor Hockey Association, said his organization had seen record registrations this year, more than 8 per cent higher than last season. 'We're bursting at the seams,' Oberti said, noting the association has had to look outside West Vancouver to find ice time to fit all the players. 'The reason why we've grown is because we've put a lot of effort into reaching out to new, non-traditional hockey demographics,' he said.'For example, we run ball hockey programs in elementary schools to introduce the sport, and we've done a lot to reach out to the Mandarin-speaking community, because it's a growing segment of our community on the North Shor
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