2014 Beeski Hockey Parents Survey
The results are in! We had 126 responses from 24 teams – our largest survey so far!
This survey is intended to show how youth hockey programs are performing relative to parents’ expectations. It was conducted online in the Spring/Summer of 2014. Geographically, the responses were concentrated in southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware
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We had 126 responses from 24 different teams
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We had 126 responses from 24 different teams
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Valley Forge Colonials 23Lancaster Firebirds 21Palmyra Black Knights 19Philadelphia Junior Flyers 11Old York Road Raiders 10
And 10 or more responses from 5 of them:
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Only 21% of respondents played travel hockey as a
child.
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That’s 1 in 5 hockey parents.
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Most parents (nearly 75%) travel less than 30
minutes to get to the rink.
Not surprisingly, Tier 1 parents tend to
travel a little farther.
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2014 Beeski Hockey Parents Survey
We asked you how satisfied you were with the 2013-14 season in four categories: Overall Hockey Experience, Coaching, Practice, and Games. Parents chose on a scale from 1-10, with 10 being Very Satisfied and 0 being “Not Applicable”.
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Management of the hockey program
Consistent application of the program's mission statement
Communication between you and the program/rink
Sense of community/identity within the program
Commitment to skill development among all players
Frequency of practices
Frequency of off-ice training
Value for the cost of participating
Overall hockey experience
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
How satisfied were you with the Overall Hockey Experience?
Average - 2013 Average
7
For Overall Hockey Experience, the average score was 6.5.This was about a point lower than last year’s survey, and this difference held across all of the questions under Overall Hockey Experience.
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Management of the hockey program
Consistent application of the program's mission statement
Communication between you and the program/rink
Sense of community/identity within the program
Commitment to skill development among all players
Frequency of practices
Frequency of off-ice training
Value for the cost of participating
Overall hockey experience
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
How satisfied were you with the Overall Hockey Experience?
Average Staying Average All
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As you would expect, the data shows that parents who decide to stay with a program tend to be more satisfied than the average parent.
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Management of the hockey program
Consistent application of the program's mission statement
Communication between you and the program/rink
Sense of community/identity within the program
Commitment to skill development among all players
Frequency of practices
Frequency of off-ice training
Value for the cost of participating
Overall hockey experience
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
How satisfied were you with the Overall Hockey Experience?
Average Moving Average Staying Average All
9
And those who decide to leave a program tend to be significantly less satisfied than the average parent.
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Quality of coaching/instruction at practices
Effectiveness/efficient use of practice time
Effectiveness/efficient use of off-ice training time
Distribution of ice time during games
Quality of coaching/instruction during games
Bench management during games
Discipline and player/parent management
Demeanor/interaction with the players
Commitment to a fun hockey experience
Overall coaching quality/effectiveness
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
How satisfied were you with the Coaching?
Average Moving Average Staying Average All
10
The same trend held true in the other categories: Coaching,
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Availability/frequency of ice time
Availability of full ice practices
Practice times
Availability of specialized instructors (e.g., skating instructors, goalie coaches, etc.)
Amount of idle time for players during practice
Discipline/player management during practices
Overall practice quality/effectiveness
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
How satisfied were you with Practice?
Average Moving Average Staying Average All
11
The same trend held true in the other categories: Coaching, Practice,
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Amount and frequency of games
Amount of travel to/from games
Frequency of tournaments
Quality of competition was appropriate
Balance between winning and fun
Overall game experience
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
How satisfied were you with the Games?
Average Moving Average Staying Average All
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The same trend held true in the other categories: Coaching, Practice, and Games. Responses from parents who ended up leaving the program were 1 to 1.5 points lower than average.
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2014 Beeski Hockey Parents Survey
We asked you about your priorities in choosing a hockey program. These were multiple choice (with a write-in option) and parents chose their top 3, in order.
We also asked you what you thought your coaches priorities were during the 2013-14 season.
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Making sure my son/daughter has fun
Dedication to player development
Quality of coaching staff
Having a competitive team
Quality/reputation of the hockey program
Proximity to your home
Cost of the season fees and travel/extras
Know/get along with other parents/players on the team
Other
Availability of ice time for practices/games
Winning as many games as possible
Quality of the rink/facilities
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Summary of Parents’ Priorities
Top Priority
The blue bars show the number of times each option was chosen as the parents’ top priority. The top 3 responses were unchanged from 2013.
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Making sure my son/daughter has fun
Dedication to player development
Quality of coaching staff
Having a competitive team
Quality/reputation of the hockey program
Proximity to your home
Cost of the season fees and travel/extras
Know/get along with other parents/players on the team
Other
Availability of ice time for practices/games
Winning as many games as possible
Quality of the rink/facilities
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Summary of Parents’ Priorities
Second Priority Top Priority
The maroon bars show the number of times each option was chosen as the parents’ second priority. Again, the top 3 responses were unchanged from 2013.
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Making sure my son/daughter has fun
Dedication to player development
Quality of coaching staff
Having a competitive team
Quality/reputation of the hockey program
Proximity to your home
Cost of the season fees and travel/extras
Know/get along with other parents/players on the team
Other
Availability of ice time for practices/games
Winning as many games as possible
Quality of the rink/facilities
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Summary of Parents’ Priorities
Third Priority Second Priority Top Priority
The green bars show the number of times each option was chosen as the parents’ third priority.
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Making sure my son/daughter has fun
Dedication to player development
Quality of coaching staff
Having a competitive team
Quality/reputation of the hockey program
Proximity to your home
Cost of the season fees and travel/extras
Know/get along with other parents/players on the team
Other
Availability of ice time for practices/games
Winning as many games as possible
Quality of the rink/facilities
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Summary of Parents’ Priorities
Top 3 Priorities Third Priority Second Priority Top Priority
Looking in aggregate, the purple bars show the total number of times each option was chosen as any one of the top 3 priorities. The 4 leading responses really stand out, giving a clear picture of what the parents are interested in.
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Skill development for every player
Making sure the players had fun
Teaching the game
Promoting good sportsmanship and team play
Winning as many games as possible
Instilling in the players a love of the game
Playing their own kids as much as possible
Other
Distributing ice time fairly
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Summary of Coaches’ Priorities
Top 3 Priorities Third Priority Second Priority Top Priority
Here’s the same view, but showing what the parents felt were the coaches’ priorities last season. For the most part, there is good alignment between the parents’ and coaches’ priorities.
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2014 Beeski Hockey Parents Survey
Finally, we asked you if you were planning to switch hockey programs next season, and why or why not.
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31% of respondents (39 out of 126) indicated that they are moving to a new hockey program for 2014-15. That’s up from 22% in the 2013 survey.
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31% of respondents (39 out of 126) indicated that they are moving to a new hockey program for 2014-15. That’s up from 22% in the 2013 survey.
With a team of 15 kids, that means on average you can expect almost 5 of them to leave the program next season.
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The reasons parents cited for staying with their current program indicate a high level of satisfaction with their youth hockey experience.
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The reasons parents gave for moving to a new program indicate a desire for better coaching, less politics, and better management.
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If we split the different reasons for leaving a program into three categories: Positive, Negative, and Neutral – we can get an idea of the parents’ motivation in moving to a new program.
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The reason for leaving is positive only 21% of the time.
2014 Beeski Hockey Parents Survey
Here are the results of a few new questions we asked this year.
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75% of the respondents’ coaches are believed to be volunteers and 77% of them are parents of one of the
players.
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Parents who move to a new program tend to do so with
their child’s input in the decision to move ...
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… and the team to move to.
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As a quick summary of the “Open Response” questions, we categorized the responses by theme and tone (positive,
negative, or neutral).
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About half of the responses were negative, but there were quite a few positive responses too.
2014 Beeski Hockey Parents Survey
And last, but not least – want to know how your team stacks up in Overall Hockey Experience?
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Here are the team by team results. Remember: the fewer the responses, the less reliable the results are.
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Team Responses Avg. Overall Hockey Experience
% of Respondents Leaving the Program in 2014-15
Old York Road Raiders 10 9.0 10%Lehigh Valley Little Phantoms 1 9.0 0%Reading Jr. Royals 2 8.5 100%Flyers Youth 1 8.0 0%Palmyra Black Knights 19 7.5 0%Lancaster Firebirds 21 7.3 10%Hatfield Ice Dogs 3 7.0 33%Delco Phantoms 1 7.0 0%York Devils 2 7.0 0%Hershey Jr. Bears 5 6.6 80%Valley Forge Minutemen 4 6.0 25%Lehigh Valley Flames 1 6.0 100%Valley Forge Colonials 23 5.9 17%Exton Kings 4 5.5 50%Regency Panthers 1 5.0 0%Philadelphia Junior Flyers 11 5.0 73%Quakers 3 4.3 67%Delaware Jr. Blue Hens 1 4.0 0%Grundy Senators 4 2.8 100%Bristol Blazers 5 2.6 80%Delaware Rough Riders 1 2.0 100%Wissahickon Warriors 1 2.0 100%Delaware Stars 1 1.0 0%New Jersey Junior Titans 1 0.0 100%
2014 Beeski Hockey Parents Survey
Thanks for you interest in the Beeski Hockey Parents Survey!
For more information, contact Steve Bochanski at [email protected].
Remember to “Like” us on Facebook and visit Beeski.net.
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