The promised land

[By Ryan McNeill] - Inquiring Mind Magazine wrote a great review of Hoop Dome for their latest release that gives basketball fans the inside scoop on how this basketball only facility went from being a pipe dream to a reality for basketball fans in Toronto. The article talks about how they gutted a hanger owned by the National Department of Defense and turned the building into Toronto's own version of Rucker Park, how Joe Dumar's Fieldhouse served as motivation and why former Raptors GM Glen Grunwald got involved with this project.

While I found the entire article great the one section that really left an impression on me was when one the coaches involved with Hoop Dome explained the shift currently underway in Ontario among teens away from hockey and towards basketball.

Joe told Inquiring Mind Magazine that, "when I told him I wanted to build a basketball only multi-facility in the city he thought I was crazy, because the perception is that Toronto is a 'hockey town.' But I had these numbers from a basketball publication that indicated a youth demographic between the ages of 12-17 that played any major sport, 30% played basketball and hockey was only played by 18%."

Reading that quote was like a breathe of fresh air because it gives merit to what I've been telling anyone that will listen for the past few years - that the majority of students at my school love basketball and only play hockey because it's what their parents want them to play. While these kids aren't being forced to lace up their skates it's becoming clear that if given the chance to play pond hockey or shoot hoops on a Saturday afternoon that the majority of kids across Ontario will now prefer to play basketball.

During my four years as a teacher it's become clear that a huge shift is underway in Canada in regards to what sports kids follow and want to play and it's great to see that research and publications are now backing up my claims.

Who would have thought that a hockey driven city like Toronto would ever see a shift in popularity away from hockey and towards basketball? Not this hoops addict.