Saskatchewan junior "A" hockey and withdrawal rates from high schoo
Creators: name: McDowell, Michael Thomas
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2011

description: The thesis studied the withdrawal rates from high school of Junior "A" hockey players as compared to the general population in the Province of Saskatchewan. As a post hoc consideration, two additional aspects were examined: a) The effect the new N.H.L.-C.A.H.A. Agreement has had on the withdrawal rates of the Junior "A" student hockey players. b) The graduating age of Junior "A" hockey players. The selected sample size numbered 273 Junior "A" hockey players. These players were selected from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League registry for the six years of 1959-61 and 1962-66. An additional 57 names were selected from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League registry from the 1967-68 season, in order to study the effect of the new N.H.L.-C.A.H.A. Agreement signed in May, 1967. All players selected were between the ages of sixteen and nineteen years. The names of these Junior "A" hockey players, the 273 of the selected sample and the 57 from the 1967-68 registry, 330 in total, were researched in the Provincial Department of Education files in Regina, Saskatchewan. The high school standing of each player was recorded. The high school standing of those players from whom the Department had no record - 138 players - was researched by writing directly to the high schools in the cities where the players had competed. Once the school records of every player had been researched, the players were divided into four age groups of sixteen, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen year olds. A test of significance for proportions was applied to determine if a difference existed between the withdrawal proportions of the selected sample and of the general population for each age group. Graphs were prepared to illustrate the three comparative aspects of the study: 1) the withdrawal rates of the selected sample and of the general population for the four age groups; 2) the withdrawal rates of the selected sample and of the players selected from the 1967-68 registry; and 3) the average age at graduation for the selected sample and for the general population. Within the limitations of the study, the following conclusions appear warranted: 1. There were statistically significant differences in the withdrawal proportions between the hockey playing student samples and the general population for three of the four age classifications in the direction of the hockey playing group. a) The sixteen and seventeen year old samples had a significantly higher school withdrawal proportion than that of the general population at the .05 and .01 levels of confidence respectively; but these differences could be subject to question due to the limited sample size. b) The eighteen year old sample had a significantly higher school withdrawal proportion than that of the general population at the .01 level of confidence. c) The nineteen year old sample withdrawal proportion was not significantly different from that of the general population. 2. The hockey playing student appears to be retarded in his normal progress through the educational system to the extent that his graduating age was on the average, approximately 1.67 years older than the normal graduating age of the general population. 3. There appears to be no decrease in the withdrawal rates of student hockey players as a result of the new N.H.L.-C.A.H.A. Agreement of May, 1967.