Ice Hockey?

Question

Next year I'm considering going out for the Ice Hockey team at my school. I don't have experience in ice hockey, but I do have experience (about 3 years) in ice skating. Will that make ice hockey easier for me?
I'm not really a sporty person......I'm a girly girl (which explains the ice skating).

Answer 1

If you have been skating on figure skates, its a little defferent than skating with hockey skates. Dont let the girly girl thing discourage you. Start working on stick handling. If you can't get ice time. Do a get some rollerblades, a stick, a ball and practice as much as possible. Try getting on the ice and skate with hockey skates as soon a possible, so you can see the difference.

Answer 2

Any past skating experience will help in ice hockey. I just started playing on a girls' high school team too! The thing I found most useful before playing was taking a clinic at my local ice rink. It was a learn to play hockey clinic which taught me balance, hockey skating tips, stickhandleing, passing, shooting, and endurance. Crossing over from ice skating to hockey is kinda hard because the skating techniques are different and now you have a hockey stick to control too. By the way, there are some girly girls on the team, and playing hockey hasn't changed their personality at all. So don't worry about that. Most importantly, have fun and don't get discouraged if the crossover time is longer than you expect.

Answer 3

Well your experience will make it easier in one way because you already knw how to skate. One of my friends i play hockey with used to figure skate before she started hockey. She has only been playing for 2 years and she is the best forward on our team. She plays almost as if she had been playing hockey for 7 years. Your experience will help, you just may need to learn a few skills and make some adjustments. The only hard thing you may have to get used to is playing with all the equipment. If you can, I would suggest to maybe to a couple of clinics if your nearby ice rink has any.

Answer 4

Ice Hockey is the 2nd Hardest sport out there to learn...if u r going out for the school it would be best to have some experiance playing Ice hockey...The ice skating part I am to too sure about but it will take u a while to get used to hockey skates.

Answer 5

My daughter plays in a 12 U league tournament bound team. She skates with several girls that "came over to the dark side". No checking allowed. You will be fine! It's slightly different feel in the skating but all you have to do is call one of your local rinks, they all have or know of another local rink that runs a "learn to play hockey" clinic, sometimes even free to entice people to play. If you do that, then pick up a couple of skills clinics and a camp or two over the summer you should be able to hold your own. My daughter also had a summer camp wtih a "girly girl" who had just started to skate that February, only 6 months before and after one season of "developmental" team playing she was on her high school team and plays on a women's rec league. You go girl - there's a lot of scholarship money out there for girl ice hockey players! PS If you post your city and state someone might be able to tell you exactly what rinks would be good! One more thing - a lot of the girls have pink gloves and laces and wear pink pony tail scrunchies and tape their sticks with pink tape. See, there is a girly side to ice hockey!

Answer 6

You can be a real girl *and* sporty.

Knowing how to skate, as others have said, is a big part of it. Having your skates under you will give you room to concentrate on learning the other skills, like managing your stick and the puck, and learning the ice and the way the game's played.

Hockey will give you things you'll use for the rest of your life. Loyalty to your teammates, how to stand your ground, how to work with others to make something happen against any opposition. You'll make friends, you'll get high on wins and frustrated by losses and then go out and do it all over again.

Hockey's a rush. It's a fast, physical sport. When it's just women playing, it's even faster, and more technical.

Try it. Have fun.

Play.

Answer 7

Having skating experience will help a lot. I have never figure skated, but I know that so much of hockey is balance. You will want to work on your stickhandling and shooting off the ice as well. It doesn't directly translate, but you should take all the practice you can get. Find a place to play pickup when you're not practicing with your team. Also, get a book.

Answer 8

The skating experience will help you for sure. Ever watch Happy Gilmore-- a hockey player that couldn't skate.

You say you're a girly-girl. It may be a bit rough playing hockey though.

But hey, go for it.

Answer 9

Hockey is all about skating, so that will be helpful, but it's a different type of skating, so you'll need to get hockey skates and practice with them. You'll also need to get a stick and puck and start practicing with them. Most of that can be done on dryland to start - shooting, passing, etc.

Don't worry too much about the checking - the last time I checked, it is illegal in women's hockey.

Finally, I played Junior Hockey with the brother of a girly girl who was smart, fun and attractive, and she turned out to be an olympian (Cammi Granato). You can learn more about her here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cammi_Granato

Good Luck. I have yet to meet a hockey player I didn't like.

Answer 10

Skating is THE number one fundamental skill in hockey so having a skating background will definitely be an asset. Hockey can be a rough game at times, no doubt, but it can also be an artistic game. You can be one of those artistic players.

For inspiration I recommend watching old footage of Wayne Gretzky in his prime. He played in an era when it was hard bruising hockey and clutching and grabbing were part of the game but he just danced around everyone and showed everyone that good hockey can be an art form too.