Are you a new or aspiring hockey mom, but have no idea what you’re doing? Here is a beginner’s guide explaining how to get your kid dressed for hockey. You’ll need it, trust me!
If you are new around here, I need to introduce myself before I really get into this blog post. My name is Sara, and I am a mom of two kids who lives in Pittsburgh. I didn’t always live here, though. I was born and raised in Florida, so the concept of winter is still pretty new to me. Unfortunately, my kids are all-in on winter. Especially my 6-year-old son. He loves all the winter things, but none more than hockey. This became a problem about a year and a half ago when he asked to try playing hockey. Uh oh. How on earth was I supposed to get him in all that gear?
I’m not too proud to admit that the gear beat me for my son’s first 8-week session of Learn to Play Hockey. I bumbled my way through every week, usually needing to take stuff off and redo it. I’m sure I was the laughing stock of a locker room full of men who had played (or still play) hockey dressing their kids. But, I persevered! I actually figured out how to get my kid dressed for hockey and developed some preferences along the way. If you’re looking to learn how to get your kid dressed for hockey, here is the step-by-step guide I wish I had when I first became a hockey mom. I really hope it’s helpful!
How to Get Your Kid Dressed for Hockey
Equipment
The equipment is the crux of what you need to get your kid dressed for hockey. Here it is, in the order you need to put it on your kid’s body. The order is extremely important!
Under layers
Before you get all the gear on your kid, you need to start with the right under layers. Hockey players get very sweaty, so it’s important to make sure that your kid has the right under layers to wick away the sweat and prevent nasty skin stuff.
Athletic leggings
You know those tight leggings that you’ve recently seen basketball players wear under their shorts? Yeah, your kid needs to wear those under all the hockey equipment. They cover the whole leg without being bulky or absorbing sweat. Get the multipack.
Performance t-shirt
Your kid also needs a similar thing up top to wear under all the pads. This means a long-sleeve performance t-shirt that’s designed to wick sweat away from the body.
Socks
Your kid needs a good pair of socks to wear with his or her skates to play hockey. Because your kid will wear athletic leggings that cover his or her whole legs, you should just be looking for socks that go above the skate. You don’t really need knee socks, but my kid happens to love them. We’ve had good success with DSG All Sport Athletic Over the Calf Socks. They come in fun colors, which is a nice bonus if your kid is into socks.
Cup
If, like me, your kid who loves hockey is a boy, he needs to wear a cup. I have found that the best cup for a kid playing hockey is actually a pair of mesh shorts with a cup built in. It’s very important that you get a few sizes of the cup shorts to try on so that your son can get the cup that’s the right fit for him. I really like the Bauer Core Mesh Hockey Jock Shorts because they have Velcro tabs to keep the socks up (more on that below). A bonus in my house is that they’re a yellowish orange color, which happens to be my son’s favorite color.
Shin guards
It might seem strange that the shin guards are the first actual piece of equipment to go on when you get your kid dressed for hockey, but just trust me. Please start at the shin guards! To find the right size, measure your kid’s shin from ankle to knee while he’s standing flat on the ground. Then round up to the nearest inch.
Socks
Socks again? Yeah, I know. This was foreign to me when my son started playing hockey too. To get your kid dressed for hockey, you need two pairs of socks, one to go under the shin guards and one to go over the shin guards. For these outer socks, I really prefer the kind with Velcro tabs at the top. They attach easily to the cup shorts with the Velcro so I don’t have to mess around with tape. Just slip them on over the shin guards, attach with Velcro and you’re ready to move on.
Hockey pants
Once you have your kid’s shins taken care of, it’s time to put on his hockey pants. These are padded shorts that lace up and include a belt to tighten. Putting on the hockey pants is pretty self-explanatory. Just have your kid step into them and then you tie and tighten them.
Shoulder pads
Next, it’s time for the shoulder pads. These are pretty easy to get on your kid too, thankfully. Slip the pads over your kid’s neck, have your kid put his arms through the elastic on the “sleeves”, and fasten the Velcro around the chest.
Elbow pads
I like to take care of the elbow pads after the shoulder pads. The elbow pads tend to get lost in the bag or forgotten about, so I like to do them right after the shoulder pads in an effort to habit stack. I’m touching my kid’s arms to get the shoulder pads on so I’m going to stick with the arms and do the elbow pads next. I cannot tell you how many times I forgot the dang elbow pads at the beginning of our hockey journey. It’s a pain in the neck to have to take everything off to put the elbow pads on when you realize you missed them, so just knock them out right after the shoulder pads. These just attach to the elbows with elasticized Velcro straps.
Neck guard
I keep moving my way up and attach the neck guard next. If your kid is new to playing hockey, don’t be surprised if they hate the neck guard. It can take some getting used to. My biggest piece of advice with respect to the neck guard is to make sure it’s not too tight or too loose. Finding the sweet spot might take a few tries, but it’s worth it. You don’t want your kid choking on the ice, but you also want the neck guard to do its job.
Jersey
Now, your kid needs to wear a jersey over all this equipment. You probably will be given a jersey by your kid’s hockey program, so don’t worry about going out to get one. How your kid wears the jersey is a personal preference. My son likes to tuck his into his hockey pants in the front most of the time, but I let him handle that.
Skates
Once your kid is in all of his or her gear, it’s time for skates. I will be the first to admit that I am not an expert on hockey skates. I just put whatever skates my brother-in-law gives me on my son. If you don’t have a brother-in-law with a hockey store in his basement, I highly recommend you take your kid to get fitted for a pair of skates. Hockey skates fit differently than shoes, so you want to make sure you get the right size and feel for your kid.
Next, it’s important to know how to tie the skates. So many kids on my son’s hockey team have improperly tied skates because it’s hard to tie them correctly. I had no idea how to do it at first, but I have learned and now I’m teaching you.
First, you must start from the toe every single time. Pull to tighten each level of the laces all the way from the toe to the ankle. When you’ve pulled each until you think it’s too tight, keep pulling. You need them to be super tight to protect their ankles. Once you’ve made it to the top, wrap the laces around the ankle for another layer of support if you have laces that are long enough. Then double knot them. Yes, I know this sounds like overkill, but it’s what you need to do when you get your kid dressed for hockey (or any activity that requires ice skates, really).
Another skates tip that I have is to swap out the boring white laces for a brightly colored pair. This will make finding your kid on the ice so much easier!
Helmet
After you’ve got the skates on, you’re in the home stretch! The last pain in the neck thing you have to do to get your kid dressed for hockey is to put on the helmet. You want to make sure it’s tight to the head so it doesn’t move around a ton, but not so tight that it cuts off circulation.
You want to attach a mouthguard to the cage of the helmet too. Even if your kid still has baby teeth, you don’t want them to become a stereotype quite yet.
Gloves
After your kid is fully dressed, it’s time to get a stick in his hand. Before he can grab his stick and head to the ice, he needs gloves. Hockey gloves offer both protection and warmth, so they’re pretty important.
Stick
With gloves on hands, it’s time to grab the stick. Sticks are either left- or right-handed, and a person’s hockey handedness doesn’t necessarily correlate with their dominant hand in other aspects of life. Both my son and husband are right-handed but use left-handed hockey sticks. I’m not going to pretend to understand why. The best way to figure out which stick is best for your kid is to start with a straight stick and see what they do with it. You should cut it so that it goes to your kid’s chin with skates on and then wrap the blade and the top handle with hockey tape.
Other helpful items
The equipment is the focus of learning how to get your kid dressed for hockey, but there are some other helpful items you might consider. I’ll keep this section brief.
Skate guards
Skates are expensive, so you’ll want to protect them as much as you can. Skate guards are the best way to protect the skate blades. You can get stretchy cloth covers or hard covers that clip on the blades.
Towel
Before you put the skate guards on the skate blades, you should wipe the ice off the blades. Keep a towel handy for this purpose.
Bag
As you can see, hockey requires a ton of equipment, so you’ll need a bag to carry it around. If your kid is just starting out, a simple bag should be sufficient.
Water bottle
Don’t underestimate the amount of sweat that happens on a hockey rink. Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean they don’t sweat. With all that sweat, hockey players need to replenish their hydration with plenty of water. Get your kid a water bottle with a long straw so he doesn’t have to constantly remove his helmet when he needs a drink.
Stool
My mother-in-law changed my life recently by gifting me with a pop-up telescoping stool. It has been the perfect answer to the problem of getting your kid’s skates tied without killing your back.
Other posts
So, I don’t have any other hockey-related posts (yet), but I do have other kid-related posts, if you’re interested:
I really hope you’re feeling more confident about your ability to get your kid dressed for hockey now. Have any more hockey mom questions? Leave them down below or over on Instagram @sarainseason and I’ll try to answer them!