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The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of organizational barriers and personal reasons that may lead youth hockey athletes to discontinue participation. Parents (N = 237) whose child discontinued participation in hockey were surveyed using demographic and open-ended questions to: 1) determine their perceptions of the organizational barriers and personal reasons that caused their son or daughter to discontinue involvement, and 2) determine the changes that could be made to lead their child to continue involvement. Data was analyzed using a combination of descriptive statistics and thematic coding. The results indicated the average attrition age for hockey players was 10 years-old and that parents indicated multiple organizational barriers and personal reasons for their child's attrition. Findings revealed several sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the youth sport organization. Recommendations for organizational improvements and suggestions for managers and administrators to increase participation are provided.
Previous research indicates that approximately one-third of hockey players do not return each year, with the peak time of attrition occurring at about the Bantam level of play which is around age 1 3 to 1 4 (Gould & Petlichkoff, 1 988). Over the last 20 years, researchers have been concerned with the high youth sport dropout rates (Gould, Fletz, Horn, & Weiss, 1982) and have examined attrition across a variety of sports. Most studies of youth sport attrition have focused on the influence of psychological factors such as participation motives (e.g., Brodkin & Weiss, 1990; Ryska, Hohensee, Cooley, & Jones, 2002; Weiss & Williams, 2004) and perceptions of the social climate (e.g., Molinero, Salguero, Tuero, Alvarez, & Marquez, 2006; Petlichkoff, 1992; Weiss & Williams, 2004). While these factors are indeed important in understanding how to make psychological and social changes in order to reduce youth sport attrition, few studies have examined the organizational and structural changes that could be made to youth program management to decrease attrition. Thus, organizational structural factors and policy deserve further attention in the ongoing quest to attract youth sport participants and reduce their attrition.
Previous attrition research reveals a predominant and recurring theme centered on leaving sports because of personal reasons. In particular, participation conflicts with other interests. For example, research on youth hockey attrition among boys conducted by the Duluth, Minnesota...