Getting started into hockey can be a hectic time. But it is also an exciting time for your kids. It is important to know when the hockey season starts, so you can prepare yourself and get your kids ready for the season to come.

Hockey season typically starts mid to late November and runs into Late March. This will vary depending on location and level of hockey. But you will need register your child before the season kicks off.

There are many things to think about when starting out with hockey. I know you all have very busy lives and sometimes we can loose track of time. It is important to remember that another hockey season is just around the corner. It may be time to prepare.

When Does Youth Hockey Start

So it is time to start the great game of hockey. But you are wondering; When does hockey even start? well you have come to the right place to get everything figured out my friend.

Now most of this information I’m going to provide is from my organization, but for the most part it will be very close to the same across the country even North America.

For the most part, you will start hockey in November. Possibly even late October. If you want your child to play REP hockey the season can even start in September. This will be tryouts for certain teams but its something to consider as your kids get older.

To get an idea what I am talking about here is a list of the levels and Tryout dates for the 2019/2020 season

• Novice Tier #2 (A Team) September 21st, 2019
• Novice Tier #3 (B Team) September 28th, 2019
• Atom B House September 14th, 2019
• PeeWee REP September 14th, 2019
• Bantam B House September 14th, 2019
• Midget B House September 22nd, 2019

As you can see tryouts start mid to late September. There will be at least two tryouts per division depending on the number of players. Some levels will release players after the first tryout and some will invite all players back to the second tryout. Check with your team to know what to expect.

In my mind as soon as my kids lace up for an official ice time, The season has started. But Kevin, how long does the season last? What a fantastic question reader. Look down below to get your answer!

How Long Is Youth Hockey Season

So we covered when the typical minor hockey season starts. Now we need to know how long we are going to be spending our weekends, weeknights and early mornings in the sometimes cold arenas. Not going to lie the town I live in built a beautiful new arena so it is quite comfortable, but we also have an older arena too and it can be chilly sometimes, but thats how the puck drops sometimes.

Anyhow, you don’t want to hear about my towns arena. You are wondering how long a typical minor hockey season lasts. Lets go with a mid September start. The end of the season will always vary once you get into the higher levels of hockey.

In Canada, Initiation (U6) and Novice (U8) will run into the mid March to end of March timeline depending on extra ice times towards the end of the season. So that puts us into the 5-6 month range for length of minor hockey season.

The higher levels of hockey may run a littler closer to the end of march depending on how well the teams have done in the regular season. The higher levels of hockey from Atom to Major Midget and onto Junior all have standings and playoff hockey.

I’ve dug a little further and here is what I have found. Please remember this is for the league my kids play in and it may vary wherever in the world you live and play. But heres what I have found. Regular season for Novice end March 22nd, 2020. All other divisions regular season ends February 19th, 2020.

The playoffs cause certain teams to go further into the year playing to win it all. In our league, divisions with 7 or fewer teams have two rounds of playoffs. Divisions with 8 or more teams have rounds of playoffs.

Divisions with 7 or fewer teams

• Round One February 22nd to March 6th
• Round Two March 7th to March 25th

Divisions with 8 or more teams

• Round One February 22nd to February 28th
• Round Two February 29th to March 6th
• Round Three March 7th to March 25th

There it is, from start to finish. If you are lucky enough to make it into the 2nd or 3rd round of playoffs you will be playing until March 25 which makes the total length of the minor hockey season 6 months. Remember this is where I live and specific to the league we play in.

But it will be very similar across Canada as there are rules set out by Hockey Canada.

What You Need to Do Before Playing

Now that you know when hockey starts, how long you can expect to be playing for. There are some things you need to do before you can consider playing.

• Make sure your child is interested still
• Register and pay the registration cost
• Make sure you have all the proper equipment needed
• Check with your organization about the need to coaches/volunteers
• Check the tryout schedules for the level of hockey
• Make sure you are well aware of the time commitment needed

Does My Son/Daughter Still Want to Play

The reason you would want to make sure your son or daughter is still interested is because it is a costly activity to get involved in. If you spend money and more importantly time going to hockey and your kid doesn’t participate or doesn’t show interested you may not be able to recoup those costs.

But if you have been in hockey a while this wont be an issue. And in the beginning some kids might not show interest but over time they will learn to love the game.

Bust Out the Wallet

Next you will need to register your child for the upcoming season. Usually this is completed online, but can be done in person as well at a registration event. Our organization does everything online. New players need to email the person in charge of registering new players in order to get started.

Quick Tip: Register during the Early Bird registration time. You will save some money. We save $50 in our association.

Check and Double Check Equipment

Kids grow like wild flowers. If you have played hockey in the past you know exactly what I am talking about. Before the season starts you will need to make sure everything still fits.

Quick Tip: Buy used equipment, you will be buying new stuff every year until they stop growing. Save yourself a thousands of dollars and buy used. Trust me you will save huge. It is new to them anyways!

Get off Your Butt and Volunteer

No hockey organization can function without all the amazing people and parents that volunteer their time to make sure things run smoothly. Each team needs coaches, managers, trainers. There is a need for someone to run the scoreboard and clocks. There are positions within the organization itself. There are so many opportunities for you to help out.

Quick Tip: You are stuck at the rink anyways, You should volunteer as an assistant at least strap on some skates and have some fun with the kids. At the same time teach them the values of hard work, teamwork and sportsmanship. Also a great opportunity for volunteer hours for High school students.

Don’t Miss A Tryout

Triple check the dates of the first tryouts. Even if you don’t thing your child has the talent. It is a great opportunity for them to get out onto the ice and challenge themselves. Kids need adversity to grow, even if they don’t make the team it is a good learning experience. You never know either, they could play well enough to make the team. Good Luck!

Hockey Again?!!

Remember, you will be at the rink at least every weekend. When they progress through, you will be at the arena’s on week nights and weekends. So make sure you are well aware of the time commitment needed to get our kids to and from the arena.

What Needs to be Checked

The most important thing you need to check is equipment. What I like to do is wait until closer to the season, which we know started mid September, to have my kids try on their equipment to make sure it either all fits or to make a list of what we need.

If you are playing summer hockey or have participated in a summer camp you will have a better idea of what you might need to get for your kids. It would be a shame to spend your hard earned money on equipment, only to have to go back and buy another set of skates because your 7 year olds feet grew a size in two months!

Yes that happened. So make sure about a month before hockey starts you are getting the equipment they need. Like I have mentioned before, buy used gear until they are old enough and aren’t growing as fast. You will save a pile of money going this route.

For example a new pair of hockey pants can cost anywhere from $50-$200 for a pair. Buy used and it will cost closer to $30. New skates can cost anywhere from $70-$200 maybe even more. Used will run you no more than $40. You can also use Facebook Marketplace or Kijiji to find cheap equipment.

Quick Tip: When buying equipment, speak to people you know in your organization. If they have older kids they might have equipment laying around that they would give away for FREE! or very cheap Don’t be shy and ask. Many people want to clean house.

After the Season Ends

Well well well you made it. Another awesome fun season is in the books. Or perhaps your first season. Well I want to say congratulations and I’m sure it was well worth it. You children have just made some of the best memories and built some amazing life skills in the process. Even if it doesn’t show right away, year after year of playing sports will help them way more than you can know.

Now it is time to relax… well for a couple of months anyways until the summer sports fire up. Or maybe there is no rest for you and your child is going to play in a spring league and maybe even into the summer in some places.

What I like to do is have my kids focus on hockey in the winter and baseball or soccer in the summer. My oldest really enjoys baseball so thats his sport of choice in the summer. Whatever you decide to do, I strongly encourage you to keep up with sports, get your children active and outside it will help them grow mentally and physically.