Your First 30 Days in Hockey

Your kid has never been on skates. Someone just asked if they'd want to try hockey. Now you're here.

I've seen hundreds of families come into this sport. They all look different at the start. They almost always end up in the same place.

Here's what I'd tell you.

Don't sign up for anything yet. Take them to a public session first. Watch some videos on how to stop before you go. That's the first skill and it matters more than anything else you'll do in the first month.

Stopping is the doorway. I've seen players go a year or two without being able to stop on their left side. That's the hard side for most people. With the way I teach it, you can almost always get it within a couple of days. Sometimes an hour. The moment it clicks is one of those things. It's a real accomplishment, and it will hook your player in a way that almost nothing else will.

Before you spend money, look into Try Hockey for Free programs at your local rinks. If they don't have one, ask about equipment borrowing. You don't want to spend $500 on gear and have your kid decide a month later that they're done. Borrow everything you can and replace pieces over time.

The one thing I'd buy right away is skates. Not the ones the employee is pushing. Have your player try on as many pairs as they can. The ones they choose should feel extremely comfortable before they're heated. Once they're heat-molded to the foot, a comfortable skate becomes an incredible one.

Kids almost always want to pick skates based on looks. If you let that happen, the pain will catch up with them. It can end a career before it starts.

Don't ignore the employee. Just make comfort the non-negotiable. After skates, get gloves and a helmet. A stick and somewhere to shoot pucks will do more for their enthusiasm than almost anything else in the early days.

Most rinks have something called stick time. It's like a public skate but for hockey players. They go out in gear, skate around, take shots. It's casual and it's fun. I'd recommend this before committing to any Try Hockey program. That said, some kids do better thrown into a group setting from day one. You'll know your player.

Once they've decided they want to play, it's time to find a program. If you have two or three rinks nearby, use that. If you only have one choice, that's your answer.

Here's what most new families don't understand going in. In a good hockey area, the organization you walk into first might be your club for your kid's entire amateur career. That first impression matters for both of you.

Most hockey coaches operate on a my way or the highway basis. That's just the culture. If you walk in with a list of demands, even small ones, they'll remember it. I've seen it happen hundreds of times. Coaches are like elephants. They don't forget.

The move is to stay out of the way. Thank them. Tell them you appreciate what they're doing and ask if there's anything you can do to help. Then follow through on it.

Parents who understand they're not walking into a fair system are almost always better off than the ones who think they have rights. That's not a criticism. It's just how hockey culture works and knowing it ahead of time changes everything.

In my experience, boys come in looking to compete. Girls almost always come in for the social side. Neither is wrong, but it changes how they engage.

Girls tend to be more literal. They try to do exactly what you tell them, which makes them genuinely fun to coach. Boys tend to think they're doing it right when they're not.

My daughter is a real example of this. I put her in with the boys first. She didn't like it and quit. Looking back, she would have done a lot better if she'd been introduced to a group of girls first. If you have a daughter coming into the sport, think about that before you put her on the ice.

Brand new gear before you know they'll stick with it. Skates chosen based on looks. A coach or program selling you on a long-term commitment before your kid even knows if they like hockey. Getting locked into one organization just because it's the closest, if you have other options.

And the one that matters most. Don't let hockey get serious too fast. Learn to play programs are good for exactly this reason. It's games. It's movement. There's no pressure. The only thing that matters right now is whether your player is having fun.

Listen to your player. Ask them questions. Point them in the right direction, but let them decide.

When their career ends, whatever that looks like, they shouldn't be able to look back and say you made the decisions. My parents gave me that and I've appreciated it every day since.

Start there. Everything else will follow.