Rough and wild ice hockey thrills the hearts of many adventure-seeking children who love speed.  While there are several different age ranges for the ice hockey leagues, there is almost always a team that will fit into you and your child’s needs easily and without injury.  The purpose of ice hockey is to skate around the rink and using the long hockey stick knock the puck into the opposing team’s hockey goal.

Hockey games only allow six players for each team on the ice at any given time, however most teams usually have 20 players for their team so that it is possible to consistently switch out players so nobody is overworked.  You should avoid a team where a coach will leave players in during the whole game.  Hockey is a very heavy intense sport and uses a lot of adrenaline, you need to make sure your child will have the opportunity to sit and rest so they do not become too tired and increase their chances of getting hurt. 

Ice hockey was accepted as an Olympic sport in 1908, and with that, it has grown to over 250,000 players each year.  While ice hockey is not as popular as football or baseball, it is a growing sport that requires a lot of determination and skill.  Size of the players in the children’s leagues are not as important as they are for the professional teams.  The speeds at which the players will move should never be ignored, they move from 15-20mph at times, with the puck moving between 30-80 mph easily.  This can lead to serious danger if the appropriate equipment is not worn. 

Speaking of equipment, a good pair of beginning hockey skates can cost as much as $150 with professional skates costing upwards of $500 per pair.  This however is not the only piece of equipment your child will need, a helmet, hockey stick and protective gear are also necessary.  Do not purchase equipment that your child must grow into, as this can cause dangers since it will not fit properly. 

Hockey offers several benefits for children including the ability to teach fast reaction times since the game moves so quickly.  It also helps greatly improve hand-eye as well as foot-eye coordination, balance and agility.  Hockey overall whether played in competition or practice or even for fun also provides a great means of aerobic exercise and cardiovascular fitness.  Muscle toning and muscle strengthening are other great advantages as is the ability to forge a great teamwork bond with other players. 

Kids who typically do great in hockey are those who are good at skating, great athletes, agile, coordinated and with a good sense of balance.  No particular body type is needed to excel at hockey; however, the skills needed to excel at hockey are skills that almost anyone can learn with some effort and practice making it a great sport for anyone who is interested in it. 

The one major drawback for the parents of girls is the lack of teams for girls, however as more girls start to play, there are more girls teams appearing.  Many girls just opt to play on the boys teams.  Most recreational leagues for girls are divided a bit differently than the boys’ teams with girls’ teams being 19 and under, 15 and under and finally 12 and under.  Boys have more levels of teams which divides the ages up more, for example 17 and under is Midget, 14 and under is Bantam, 12 and under is PeeWee and finally 8 and under is Mite. 

Many beginning hockey programs start with children as young as 4 and 5, however the goal of these programs is not to teach hockey, but rather to teach safety skills as well as how to skate.  Once you have decided upon hockey for your child, you must decide between a house league or a travel league.  The biggest difference is that house leagues only play their games in house, while travel leagues will travel to different cities as well as sometimes different states to play against another team. 

One important consideration is the fact that many times games as well as practice will start before the crack of dawn, if you and your child are not early morning people then this sport may not be for you.  Personally, I hate the idea of rolling out of bed before 9a.m. and I am not alone, this would make hockey a bad choice for my lifestyle, which the lifestyle of the parents is important until the child is old enough to drive themselves.  If you allow your child to play hockey you should be willing to do the early mornings, or you are just setting your child up to fail.