The Deutscher Eishockey-Bund, in collaboration with the regional associations, has carried out a club situation analysis in order to record the consequences of the corona pandemic that have been apparent so far. 163 ice hockey clubs out of a total of around 200 took part in this survey and described their current pressing problem areas. The result is a meaningful status quo survey, which also provides the basis for the offers of the “Back to Hockey” initiative.
The survey is an important tool for reacting to the data and providing better support, especially in young talent work. Statements about the number of active players were not a partial aspect here, as this picture can only emerge when gaming operations are fully regular again.
It became clear that the smaller clubs suffered even more from the pandemic than the larger ones; they tended to be less able to provide ice. Last season, 60 percent of the clubs were limited to a maximum of 25 percent of their usual ice time. The majority of clubs are planning to return to the ice for the 2021/22 season in August or September, while a fifth can only start in October or November. Significant savings are expected in terms of equipment and materials, and travel costs should also be reduced.
Losses of income were registered by the clubs in five areas in particular. Matchday revenue, catering, sponsorship, donations and, finally, the fact that we were unable to organize events were primarily responsible for the significantly declining result. Nevertheless, on average, the clubs describe the general mood as “neutral”, although it was clear that the mood in the larger clubs is better than in the smaller ones.
70 percent of the clubs say they have sufficient capacity to accommodate additional children in the young talent teams. Ice times, number of trainers and the respective locker room situation are seen as possible limiting factors. The situation with volunteers is currently considered to be largely unproblematic; the clubs have also tried to maintain contact in all conceivable and possible ways over the last year and have often received encouragement.
Noticeable measures taken by the clubs to keep their members on board included a variety of online formats. Examples cited included online training, online mental training, online challenges, online nutritional advice and online parents' evenings. A loss of members as a general phenomenon affecting the majority of clubs has not been identified, at least not at this point in time. Currently, 80 percent of ice hockey clubs expect to play as usual without any particular problems in the 21/22 season - provided that the corona situation allows ice hockey to be played to the full extent.