The pyramid of levels is upside down. In BC (and AB is very similar), where 20 years ago AAA (draw zone system) was the only top level option for players. Now AAA, Prep school (CSSHL), and private academies (JPHL) all fight for players at the top of the pyramid. There is players playing at that level that 20 years ago wouldn't even have made AAA and AA. CSSHL is 25k+ per year with some program being up to 60k+ per year. JPHL is 20k to 25k a year. AAA is about 20k a year. Many kids cant afford that and they just play local Rep hockey where they dont have the same level of coaching, ice time, off ice training, and general elite sports lifestyle education.
That is a really interesting concept. I'm still personally torn on the whole privatization of youth sports. It is really driving up the overall cost of participation in any sport, not just hockey. This really builds a massive barrier of entry and could be stifling the growth of the sport IMHO. Is Hockey Canada really that bad that they need these private unsanctioned leagues? I personally don't have any experience with this. I live in MN and absolutely love the community based MN hockey model. I think its amazing and is the #1 reason we produce so many players and are the state of hockey. I am curious to follow this and see if these private leagues turn out to be a better model that produce more and or better players or not.
Awesome content as always. I hear the adds for the JPHL on the NHL network (Sirius). Didn't know anything about their model and how cost competitive it can be vs. academy. Does this model accept U.S. bien kids?
40k to 70k /yr is nuts. This has many benefits, the quality of life, very interesting. Sad hc is slowly not attracting, and I understand why. But the dilution is real,
Hockey Canada is now implementing new fees as well. I heard of a Behavior Fee now(250 dollars) and a Referee respect fee (500 dollar deposit) to basically get more revenue
