So, you want to be a hockey player…
So to recap, it can be difficult to learn to play Ice Hockey in Manchester. It’s a minority sport and the kit can be very expensive. Especially for beginners, who might need to buy it all at once! It’s even harder if you are say 15+ years of age.
Our previous posts, covered the first step to getting into the sport, which is to get some ice skates and learn to skate!
See our post on buying ice skates, for the best ones to buy and more importantly how much to spend below.
I can skate, what next…
The biggest issue for someone around or over 15, getting into playing Ice Hockey in Manchester and the UK is the cost of the kit.
Hopefully, you will already have bought some reasonable skates, which is a big part of the outlay! But, where do you go from there. There are a few options:
- I’m pretty well off (just saying) and can actually just buy all the kit at once. If this is you, then great! Just go for it. Get yourself down to the nearest kit shop and go crazy. You can then look at jumping in with either a recreation team, or even going to one of the academies and getting started!
- I can buy bits of the kit every now and again, as I slowly save up for bits here and there.
- I have to spend a long time saving up for each bit of kit and it will take me a very long time to get a full set.
So, we suspect that most people will be in either options 2 or 3. We have some top tips for you if so.
What do I buy next?
After you’ve got ice skates, the next bits of kit to consider is a stick and some gloves. This way you can practice around the house/flat/yard and get used to stickhandling etc.
Learn to play roller hockey and inline hockey
Embrace roller hockey/inline hockey. This can be an easier and more sustainable long-term approach to getting on the ice!
Get a pair of roller/inline skate. We know this is something else to buy but the payback will be immense, especially if you have to play the long game (like with option 3 above). Once you have roller/inline skates, you can go to any asphalt/tarmac park in the city (of which there are loads), with just your skates, stick and gloves and get used to skating, stickhandling etc. You can be doing this, for a long as it takes to save up for the rest of the kit!
The next is consider playing for an inline hockey/roller hockey team. Lots of inline hockey leagues, play with slightly less kit than Ice Hockey and so again, this can be a great way to get great/match practice, while you are sorting the kit out. You will find that they also often train in sports halls around the city too.
Once you have finally, got all of the kit, then you can look at approaching a recreational (“rec”) ice hockey team and joining their training. The other option (much more likely if you’ve been playing some inline hockey) if you’re younger is to get in touch with the Manchester Storm academy!
These are our top tips for you to learn to play ice hockey in Manchester.
Keep you eye on further posts, for more information and detail coming soon.
Yak – MIH
