Times do change, but Hockey is a distinctly more logistically intensive sport. It costs more to keep the kids equipped. Travel is both greater and more expensive. Little-league kids dress at home, go home. The hockey kids need facilities on-site. Parents who are going to commit to the sport with their kids are leaving for places that more fully support them, and provide their kids with the best facilities. Presently BGSU's Ice Arena simply isn't among any of the top places. Plus, the lower quality of the venue cuts into the numbers of people who would play locally in the more travel-limited groups. In for a penny, in for a pound. Do you really want to get the kids up at 4:30 a.m. for practice at the BGSU facility? Not likely.redskins4ever wrote:I'll counter you two fold...
1) The old BG City League Pee Wee park was a dismal facility that had more teams then they could handle.
2) The new Carter Park facility... ok... its 20 years old now... but they have had a severe decline in teams over the last 10 years despite the quality of facility.
Do you need nice facilities? Sure. Is there a direct correlation between nice facilities and usage by the public? Only partially when you get the initial boost. In reality what we have seen is that kids have been specialized in sports, because if they fail to do so, they'll never make the travel teams which help you become very very good.
Today there are just 5 Junior level teams... 20 years ago there were two divisions and 16 teams.
Baseball, which I played as a kid, could have been played on a grass lot with pillows as bases. No lie, I get what your saying, but don't feel it compares.
