If you haven’t heard a joke about the ferociousness of ice hockey parents or coaches, you must have been living under a rock for the last several years. While it is nice to see parents taking their children’s sports seriously, the level of seriousness to which people take ice hockey means you need to be ready for a serious level of commitment if your child (or you) decide to pursue ice hockey training.
One of the main reasons you need to be serious about your commitment from the get go – the costs. No matter what, you will need to shell out money to join a club and to invest in a decent pair of skates. While you may be able to borrow some gear in the beginning, you will probably be expected to purchase a large amount of items pretty quickly. This means that you probably won’t be thrilled if three weeks into ice hockey training, you decide it isn’t really something for you. No, you need to make a commitment from the get go.
Unlike many of the other common winter sports, like skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating, you need a team for ice hockey, and that is also a commitment. Most teams don’t take kindly to drop-outs after having made an effort to train effectively and build team spirit. I don’t mean to take a negative angle here, ice hockey is a great sport, and often people who start stay committed for life because they love it, but since ice-hockey often costs several hundred dollars initially out of pocket, it can be hard to turn your back.
There are some benefits to making a commitment to a sport like ice hockey. Sometimes young children can become frustrated when they don’t see the initial success they expect, and give up rather quickly. In this situation, if impressed upon them to continue until the end of the season, they may learn that their own perserverence can pay off.
If you do decide to sign yourself or your child up for hockey, go to the rink and talk to the people responsible for the team. Make sure their ideals and priorities are aligned with your expectations. Are they in it to win it? Are they in it to develop skills? What are the coach’s ideals? Ask if you or your child can take a test drive, join in a practice or simply watch one, to see if it is what you are looking for. Ask about rental equipment, policies in place about game travel, and how much of a time commitment is expected. If you do your homework, chances are you can find an ice hockey team which will offer a great training and learning experience.
