An exciting but often overlooked topic about how to play ice hockey as an adult. If you’ve been spectating the game for some time, we’re going to be showing you how to go from watching to learning and playing.
The number one question that Puck Drawn Hockey gets asked all the time is, “Am I too old to play hockey?”. My answer is, if you still have that burning desire to learn the sport and get on the ice and play, you’re never too old to learn. This guidance is going to be split into five steps that give you all the information you need to play.
Step 1: Finding Your Ice Rink
To begin with, the most obvious step to get into ice hockey as an adult is going to be finding your ice rink. Depending on your location in the country, depending on what state you live in and what town and city, it’s a good idea to find out if you have a local ice rink that’s not too far for you to be able to commit to playing hockey.
Furthermore, you need to make sure the ice rink actually has hockey as an option for you to learn there. There are one or two ice rinks that I’ve come by in the UK that don’t actually have ice hockey as a sport on the ice, so it’s definitely worth double-checking that out.
Step 2: Picking Your Team
Step two is going to be quite an important one, which is being able to choose the right team for you to play in. This step can be split into several different sections, and the first one is going to be space.
Hockey in the UK can be quite hard to come by, which means that if you can find a team to join, most of the time, they can be full. A good idea is to make sure that the groups that you’re looking at joining have space for you to be able to play.
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The next section is going to be taking a look at what skill level they play. Although this discussion is directed towards recreational hockey, it’s important to mention that there’s a lot of recreational teams out there, especially the Archon Kai trainer that has more than enough skill to be able to play league hockey.
The reason that they don’t can be down to several different things, like the players’ residential statuses, for example. So definitely check out the level that you’re going to be playing at to make sure it’s going to be suitable for you as a beginner to be able to get into the sport.
Another important notice is that you need to check on is if the teams that you’re looking at joining are going to be playing contact hockey or non-contact hockey. It is definitely worth checking because, as a beginner, you might want to be able to get your feet used to the sport before you start learning how to give and take hits on the ice.
Another very crucial point is going to be the times. Any recreational players are going to be able to relate to this regardless of what country they’re. Some ice rinks start training at very unsociable hours.
For example, you can start work at 5 or 6 A.M., and your team’s training begins at 11 P.M. Make sure that you also consider that, because depending on how far is it from the rink to your house, you could be getting home at 3 to 4 A.M., which spares you not very much time to get any sleep. Thus, make sure the time corresponds with your personal and also your professional life.
The great thing about these days and ages that we’re in right now is that a lot of recreational teams have Facebook pages or Twitter pages.
Make sure that you talk to the group in advance and ask any of these questions, just to make sure that the team’s going to be right for you. This also brings us to step 3, which is going to be the registration.
Step 3: Registration
In the UK, we’re quite big on health and safety and insurance, which means that there is a bit of paperwork that you’ll need to do to be able to get registered. What you should do is to identify who manages the recreational team that you’re interested in joining, and you’ll have to ask them for a registration form.
What you’ll need to do to complete that is simply fill in the different blank spaces on the form. This also includes submitting a photo ID or photocopy of a photo ID, like a driving license or a passport, along with that is two small, passport-size photos.
This also consists of a payment to the EIHA, the English Ice Hockey Association, and that registration fee is 50 pounds. If you’re going to be joining a second recreational team, the charge is 35 pounds, and the same if you’re entering the third team.
These forms will then be returned once they’ve been filled into the manager of the recreational team. And you also have if it’s your first time on the ice – a two-week cooling-off period to try your feet on the sport and see if it’s for you.
If the game is for you, then your registration details will be filed. If it’s not, your photo ID will be returned to you, and the registration fee that you’ve paid will be reimbursed.
In the US and Canada, the rules are a little bit less strict. What you need to do in these countries is simply turn up to the ice hockey team that you want to play in and give them your name.
All this does is just acknowledge the fact that you’re over the age of 18, and you’re also wavering any liability in case you’re hurt on the ice while you’re playing. This brings us to step four, which is going to be the equipment.
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Step 4: Equipment
I’ve left this to one of the last steps because it’s going to be the biggest investment that you’re making into ice hockey. Some ice rinks offer the learn-to-play program, which is where you’re able to turn up to the team several times that provides you with equipment for you to borrow and see if the sport fits you.
Another way to save money is also to find out if any of your friends that play hockey or anybody at the ice rink has any old equipment that they might be selling.
Don’t shy away from secondhand equipment because it means that you can make huge savings, and you’ll still be able to join the sport. If you feel funny about wearing something that somebody else has, you can simply wash the equipment before you use it.
If you’re looking to invest in your own equipment, what we’ve done is create a full step by step tutorial to take you through buying all of the gears that you need to play ice hockey. That is another article, so make sure you check it out.
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Step 5: Enjoy Your Ice Time
The last but definitely not least step is to make sure you enjoy all the time that you can get on the ice. Remember that you’re never too old for the fastest team sport in the world.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, Ice Hockey seems not too difficult for a newbie as an adult. After reading this post, we hope that you should find a simple and easy way to get into this interesting sports.
