A new hockey season is upon us! Your young child is somehow already at the age where they can ice skate and play team sports. That was fast! What can they expect when suiting up for their first game? Let’s start with the obvious: fun! Hockey is such a great sport for building relationships and friendships with teammates, as well as learning valuable teamwork and leadership skills. If this is your first season hitting the ice as a player or a parent, here are a few things you can expect!
Set your Alarm Clock
If nobody’s warned you about this yet, let us be the first to do so. Hockey practices are early! Not all of them, but a lot of them take place before work or school. Get ready for your new life of no sleeping in and rushing sleepy kids out the door while it’s still dark out. For your little ones, getting to bed earlier and making sure they still get enough rest is crucial not just for their performance on the ice, but so they can stay awake and focus once they get to school. The same goes for the parents! You have to be alert to safely drive your kid to and from the rink, as well as making it to work on time. This is definitely one of the biggest lifestyle changes when adding minor hockey to your life. It’s worth it, but you’ll certainly become better friends with that hot cup of coffee.
Start Saving Your Pennies
Another part of minor hockey that isn’t often talked about: the cost! At my local minor hockey association, season fees start at about $500 and range all the way up to $1,000 per season depending on the age of your child. But it’s not just registration fees. You don’t need me to remind you how fast your child is growing! Unlike adults, children outgrow their equipment every couple of seasons. It can add up, but buying equipment that is too large thinking your children can grow into them can be unsafe and even increase the chances for injury on the ice. Compared to low-cost sports like soccer, baseball, or basketball, hockey is definitely on the pricey side, so start saving during the offseason because your pre-season shopping trip is going to be a big one.
Be Prepared for Other Parents
This one is mainly for you as parents: be careful of the over competitive parents. There’s always one or two on every team. Look, we get it, hockey is the national pastime in Canada, and parents love to live vicariously through their kids. Every hockey parent has dreams of their child suiting up for the NHL one day, so emotions can run high even at these young age levels. Things can get awkward if there’s a confrontation, especially when you are trying to watch the practice or game for your own child. If something does happen, just take the high road. Not only does a confrontation embarrass you it embarrasses your child even more.
Younger Kids Play Co-ed Hockey
At the youngest age groups in Canada, many teams are co-ed to start with. There definitely are female only teams if you prefer your daughter to only play against girls. Co-ed is an excellent way for kids to make friends with other genders in a sporting environment. This is definitely something you or I had as we were growing up. Not only does this reduce the stigma of gender equality in the sports world, but it further cements hockey as a sport for any gender. Parents should be prepared for that in the beginning. Just know that biologically, both boys and girls have about the same athletic ability at that young of an age!
Hockey Isn’t for Everyone
Here’s one that both kids and parents should prepare for: they may not like it! This is going to sound weird in a minor hockey blog post, but this is a very realistic outcome after the first couple of practices. Look, it can be uncomfortable for a young child to wear all that gear and skate around the ice. Maybe they don’t like waking up early, or maybe they just don’t enjoy it as much as you thought they would. Whatever the case may be, if your child doesn’t enjoy it, just take them out. There are more important things in life than your dream of them playing in the NHL.
Have fun and pay attention
For the kids, just get out there, have fun and use up some of that energy! Hockey is a great team sport that helps kids get exercise and meet new friends. At this young age, it’s less about competition and more about developing the fundamental skills to help build strength, agility, and confidence. For the parents, enjoy the moment as well! Pay attention to your kids because even though they are on the ice, they can see if you just have your face buried in your smartphone for the whole game. Cheer for them when they succeed and talk to them about it after the game is over to show them that you are committed to their hockey development. Maybe you can even take it one step further and offer to help out with practices and be on the coaching staff! There’s nothing like seeing your child grow as a player and score their first goal from ice level, behind the bench!
