CBC Archives

You must sign in to leave a comment on this clip.

Hockey gets organized

Broadcast Date: Jan. 20, 1961

It's minor hockey week in Canada – "the world's greatest hockey spectacle." More than 125,000 youngsters will take part in events in towns and cities across the country. As we hear in this CBC Radio clip, the number of boys in organized hockey in the early '60s is growing rapidly. Jack Christie of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association has some advice for parents: "To keep a boy out of hot water, put him on ice."

Hockey gets organized

• Minor Hockey Week continues to be held every January by the Canadian Hockey Association, the current governing body for amateur hockey. In the 2002-2003 season, there were more than a half-million boys and girls registered as players with the CHA.

• The first organized hockey team was the McGill University Hockey Club formed in 1877. The team won the first "world championship" — a round-robin with six teams — held in 1883 at the Montreal Ice Carnival. The first national association, the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada, was formed in 1886. The sport spread to Europe and was embraced by American colleges, beginning with Yale University in 1909. Professional hockey started to take root around the same time.

• The first organization aimed at administering and developing hockey was the Ontario Hockey Association. It was formed Nov. 27, 1890. A meeting in Ottawa in 1914 laid the groundwork for a national association.

• In recent years, minor hockey hasn't been the sunny picture portrayed in this 1961 clip. Misbehaving parents, the high cost of equipment and league fees and a gradual increase in the number of games played have been blamed for a decline in the number of minor league players in Canada. For more on the concerns, see the clip Minor Hockey, Major Problems.

• Hockey Canada, the governing body for amateur hockey, set new age categories for minor hockey in 2002. They are:
- Pre-novice (under 6 years old)
- Novice (7 and 8 years old)
- Atom (9 and 10 years old)
- Pee Wee (11 and 12 years old)
- Bantam (13 and 14 years old)
- Midget (15, 16 and 17 years old)

Hockey gets organized

Medium: Radio

Program: Assignment

Broadcast Date: Jan. 20, 1961

Guest(s): Jack Christie

Host: Maria Barrett, Bill McNeil
Interviewer: Gordon Howard

Duration: 4:38

Last updated:
Nov. 14, 2006