If you are passionate about playing hockey and you have been spectating the sport for some time, no matter whether are you an adult or old enough, we are going to be taking a look at how to play ice hockey. The number one question that you can get asked all the time is that are you too old to play hockey if you still have that burning desire to learn the sport and get on the ice and play, you are never too old to learn. So let’s take you through how to do that so this article is going to be split into step by step guide that will give you all the information you need to play ice hockey.
Ice Rink
The first and most obvious step is going to be finding your ice rink. So depending on where you live in the country depending on what country you live in and what town and city. It is a good idea to find out if you have a local ice rink that is not too far for you to be able to commit to playing hockey. It is also important to mention that you need to make sure the ice rink actually has hockey as an option for you to learn there because some rinks do not actually offer ice hockey as a sport on the ice so it is definitely worth double-checking.
Pick a Right Team
Step two is quite an important one and it is going to be being able to pick out the right team for you to join. Now, this is going to be able to be split into about three or four different sections and the first one is going to be space and locking. In most of the countries, it can be quite hard to come by which means that if you are able to find a team to join a lot of the times they can be full. So a good idea is just to make sure that the teams that you are looking at joining have space for you to be able to do that.
Skills level
The next thing is going to be taking a look at what skill level they play. It is important to mention that there is a lot of recognized teams out there especially the ice rink that has more than enough skill to be able to play league hockey the reason that they cannot be down to a number of different things for example, like the player’s residential statuses. So definitely check out the level that you are going to play and make sure it is suitable for you as a beginner to be able to get into the sport.
Play Level
Another point you need to check on is if the teams that you are looking to join are going to be playing contact hockey or non-contact hockey. It might be worth you checking because as a beginner, you might want to be able to get your feet to get used to the sport before you start learning how to give and take hits on the ice.
Time Management
Time is another very crucial point. Now any recreational player is going to be able to relate to this regardless of what country they are in. Some ice rinks train out very unsociable hours so for example if you start work at five six o’clock in the morning and your team trains their training begins at 11:00 p.m. at night, make sure that you sort of consider that because depending on how long it takes you to get to and from the ice rink you keep getting home at three four o’clock in the morning leaving not very much time for you to get any sleep. So make sure the times correspond with your personal and also your professional life. The great thing about the day and age is that a lot of recreational teams have Facebook pages and Twitter pages so make sure that you get in contact with the teams and ask any of these questions just to make sure that the team is going to be right for you.
Registration
The next step is going to be registered which means that there is a bit of paperwork that you will need to do to be able to get registered. What you will need to do is identify who manages the recreational team that you are interested in joining and you will have to ask them for a registration form what you will need to do to be able to complete. That is simply fill in the details on the form which will include submitting a photo ID or photocopy of a photo like a driving license or a passport and two small passport size photos.
This also consists of a registration fee which will be a payment to the English Ice Hockey Association and that is 50 pounds. If you are going to join a second recreational team at some stage in the future that will be 35 pounds and the same if you are joining the third team, these forms will then be returned once they have been filled into the manager of the recreational team and you also have if it is your first time on the ice a two-week cooling-off period to be able to try the sport out and see if it is for you. If these sports for you, then your registration details will be filed. if it is not, your photo ID will be returned back to you and the registration fee that you have paid will be reimbursed in the US and Canada there rules a little bit more relaxed what you need to do over there is simply turn up to the ice cream coffee you found the team that you want to join and just sign in with your name all this does is just acknowledge the fact that you are over the age of 18 and you are also wavering any liability in case you are hurt on the ice.
Equipment
While you are playing, this brings us to a very important step which is going to be the equipment. Now we have left this to one of the last steps because it is going to be the biggest investment that you are making one here for the sport of hockey. Some ice rinks offer something called learn to play which is where you are able to turn up to the ice rink at a lot of time. They will provide you with equipment for you to just borrow and have a quick knock about with a stick and a puck on the ice to see if the sports for you. Another tip 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. Do not shy away from secondhand equipment because it means that you can make huge savings and you will still be able to get on the ice and play. If you feel funny about wearing something that somebody else has, you can simply watch the equipment before you use it. Just make sure you enjoy all the time that you can get on the ice because you are never too old to learn how to play the fastest team sport in the world.
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