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Am I too late to play hockey at a high-ish level?


russwiz

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So I just typed out this big long paragraph explaining everything but that got deleted so I’m just going to quickly give you the run down before I start asking questions. For starters, I’m 15. I’m 6 feet 1 inch tall and I’ve played football and soccer and basketball all my life like most American kids. My very first sport/activity, however, was skating. I have skated since I was 2 years old and stopped skating almost every day when I was about 9 or 10. I still skate every so often, and I really love it. Sadly, when all my friends went on to play hockey around age 5, I was not allowed. A couple of my best friends today are the ones I skated with those early years, and all of them are high level hockey players now. One of my friends plays in the OHL at 16 years old. Seeing as most of my best friends whole lives are consumed by hockey, you’d think I would have thought about this by now, but I haven’t, so here I am. Before I ask my questions, I’ll give you a general idea of my skill and experience with hockey. At the moment, I skate from time to time with my friends and am about at their skill level skating wise, surprisingly. My only weakness skating wise would be skating backwards, but I can still do it decently well. The major problem, though, is my stick and puck skills. I’ve barely practiced handling the puck and am pretty basic at it. With daily practice in the basement, I think I can pick it up pretty quickly. So my questions to you are, based on what you’ve heard about my skill, do you think I would be able to play high school hockey in the next year or 2? If so, where do I start so late? Are there beginner/intermediate leagues for kids my age? I live right near a hockey rink, so how much time should I spend at the rink daily or weekly working, and what should I work on? Is it extremely uncommon for 15 year olds to start at this age, and if not, do they have much success? This is really important to me because, looking back at it, not being able to beg my parents enough to allow me to play is something I regret almost the most out of anything in my whole life. If you can answer any of these questions, please do. Anything helps and I’d appreciate any amount of help. Thanks.

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First of all, @russwiz welcome to the site....

Short answer, it might be too late to make the NHL if that is what you were alluding to.
Usually guys who get there eat, sleep, breathe and live hockey since they are in early grade school...maybe even K or earlier!

But, that is not to discourage you. If you feel you have it in you to work hard and try to make a go of it, by all means, NEVER let anyone tell you otherwise.

Even if say you get to college and have a decent or ok college hockey career, but never make pro, even something like that is more than many others will ever achieve.
Go for whatever sports you think you can do well in, put in the work, bottom line.... keep education in mind though and do all you can to bolster that.

After all, even if you don't make pro athlete, maybe with a good education, you can get a career within sports and that is pretty awesome too!

Put in whatever work you want, don't be discouraged, although be realistic.
Don't sacrifice higher education just for the sake of trying to make pro athlete....even those who may be 'shoe-ins' as pros (if there is such a thing) would be unwise to dismiss education.... injuries can end even the most promising careers in a nanosecond.

Anyways, just a small take from someone who has participated in sports and knows what its like to face that grind and the competitive nature of it and how it can really be stressful.  I made sure I got higher learning in there though.

Welcome to the boards again....please, find some threads and talk some hockey with us if you like.
Any other questions or concerns, flag down a mod or even some members who would be helpful, and we will see what we can do for ya.

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Thanks for the quick response! I appreciate the advice about higher education and all that and I just wanted to assure you my parents would definitely prefer I go to college for education primarily and not sports unless it’s a good college for both haha. I definitely couldn’t see myself going pro either considering I haven’t even started yet, I just have a burning desire to play hockey and get up to par with my hockey playing friends. Thanks again for giving me this bit of knowledge. I truly do appreciate every ounce of help. Thanks

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  • 5 weeks later...
On 11/21/2019 at 7:08 PM, russwiz said:

So I just typed out this big long paragraph explaining everything but that got deleted so I’m just going to quickly give you the run down before I start asking questions. For starters, I’m 15. I’m 6 feet 1 inch tall and I’ve played football and soccer and basketball all my life like most American kids. My very first sport/activity, however, was skating. I have skated since I was 2 years old and stopped skating almost every day when I was about 9 or 10. I still skate every so often, and I really love it. Sadly, when all my friends went on to play hockey around age 5, I was not allowed. A couple of my best friends today are the ones I skated with those early years, and all of them are high level hockey players now. One of my friends plays in the OHL at 16 years old. Seeing as most of my best friends whole lives are consumed by hockey, you’d think I would have thought about this by now, but I haven’t, so here I am. Before I ask my questions, I’ll give you a general idea of my skill and experience with hockey. At the moment, I skate from time to time with my friends and am about at their skill level skating wise, surprisingly. My only weakness skating wise would be skating backwards, but I can still do it decently well. The major problem, though, is my stick and puck skills. I’ve barely practiced handling the puck and am pretty basic at it. With daily practice in the basement, I think I can pick it up pretty quickly. So my questions to you are, based on what you’ve heard about my skill, do you think I would be able to play high school hockey in the next year or 2? If so, where do I start so late? Are there beginner/intermediate leagues for kids my age? I live right near a hockey rink, so how much time should I spend at the rink daily or weekly working, and what should I work on? Is it extremely uncommon for 15 year olds to start at this age, and if not, do they have much success? This is really important to me because, looking back at it, not being able to beg my parents enough to allow me to play is something I regret almost the most out of anything in my whole life. If you can answer any of these questions, please do. Anything helps and I’d appreciate any amount of help. Thanks.

 

 

I am not a hockey player but am aware of numerous 'clubs' in my area that play hockey and have friends that also play in leagues.

 

You say you live near a hockey rink, go over there and ask around.  Letting someone involved know your skill level and that you're interested in playing/learning might garner some help/guidance.  You may be a little young for a mens's league but there may be some other leagues you can investigate.

 

Welcome to the board!

 

 

 

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