BACKGROUND - OLD - FUTURE OF HOCKEY LAB

National data shows that only one in 10 youth are participating in hockey at some level, and participation in organized hockey has been steadily decreasing. It’s also a sport that has been called out increasingly for its exclusivity and its racism, criticized for focusing disproportionately on the highest levels, while losing sight of the grassroots player experience and all the amazing benefits it can offer.

In 2018, Hockey Nova Scotia started collecting data to get a better understanding of WHY. This was done through three core bodies of work:

The Players Journey
mapped the experience of a player from the desire to play to the end-of-year party and all the touch points in between. This resulted in 460 data points.

The Women's Worlds Legacy Development Plan that came out of direct engagement with female players on how to better support them and grow the female game.

The Diversity & Inclusion Task Force
resulted in over 1,000 recommendations on how to make the game more friendly and welcoming - importantly, many of these were from folks who have either quit hockey or never been interested in the first place.

Bottom line: Hockey has some amazing benefits, but they are reserved for a select few. Meanwhile, demographics are changing. For example, a recent Deloitte study reported that by the year 2031, more than one quarter of the Canadian population will be foreign-born.

The Future of Hockey Lab was established in 2021 to bring together many stakeholders to create, experiment, and test ideas to make the sport of hockey more inclusive, diverse and welcoming.

The very first Future of Hockey Lab is located in the province of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia is in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. With a population of approximately 1 million people and an even rural-urban split, the province has a vibrant African Nova Scotia community dating back over 400 years, a growing and youthful Mi’kmaw nation comprised of 13 Bands/First Nations, and an effective population growth strategy to continue attracting newcomers. Canada’s "Education Province" has the most academic institutions per capita and is a leader in accessibility: recent legislation aims to make Nova Scotia inclusive and barrier-free by 2030.

Over time, we will see additional Future of Hockey Labs in many places around the world, creating better futures for more participants.

MAKE STRIDES WITH US

Imagine a welcoming environment where there is a safe place for everyone – a future that is better for every participant through sport.
Sport leaders have wanted this for years but often get stuck on the “how”.

So we’re going for it. We’re discovering new.