Rink noise can be unhealthy

I am writing about the campaign at Centre 200 in Sydney to increase attendance at hockey games. Free admission is being offered to children under a certain age.

The sound generated at the hockey games seems to have gotten louder each year and now it is at the point that the announcements and music are inaudible.

The Canadian standard for sound levels in the workplace is 75 decibels – and that is for a short time. The sound – rather noise – at hockey games has been measured as high as 107 decibels – and this is for most of the night. The only time when it is pleasurable is when the teams are actually playing hockey.

Recently, on CBC radio, an expert talked about loud sounds and the effect they have on the body. The speaker said you protect your eyes, your body and your breathing so why not your hearing? Hearing loss most of the time is gradual and you don’t notice until it’s too late. But when the damage is done, it usually can’t be fixed.

I feel that placing children and young adults in that situation just to get a larger attendance will harm them for the rest of their lives.

I was a season-ticket holder for years and enjoyed attending hockey games with my son. I complained many times about the absurd sound levels and I was told that: “If you don’t like it, you know what you can do.”

Well, I did.

There is an old rule in business that it is 10 times harder to get new customers than it is to keep an old one.