My son started at 11 and he was on his HS varsity team and a local upper A team this year. And he definitely wasn’t tye last kid in his league to join.
It’s a fantastic sport - hope he loved it!

Several years of practice are needed before becoming a proficient hockey player. Skating is one thing; skating with a stick and puck is something else entirely. Take basic learn to skate lessons. Once the series is completed at least Basic 6, then try learn to play.

Anonymous wrote:OP here and it looks like there is a house league at mount vernon rec which wouldn't be too far from us. If the skate lessons and ltp class go well ill look there next.

Just sign up now and do as much skate and ltp lessons as you can leading up. Skating is obviously foundational but playing games is the fun part. And there are a million youtube videos with stick handling and shooting videos that can be done at home.

OP here and it looks like there is a house league at mount vernon rec which wouldn't be too far from us. If the skate lessons and ltp class go well ill look there next.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all! I signed him up for the learn to play class and the next set of skate lessons. He is OK on the ice when we go for fun. Im hoping it ends there, because i know how time intensive this sport can be. But I'll let him give those classes a go.

Side note, is street or field hockey a thing around here for boys? If we could strip the ice part i would be more inclined to support!

There are inline leagues around and there is a travel league associated with the the Caps. Unfortunately I don’t know enough about any of it to suggest where to look for a house team. I know there’s a rink in the Alexandria area and then some out in Loudoun

At the house level, it is not a time intensive sport, so don't worry about that. Find a rink with a robust house program that goes to older ages (e.g., Rockville/MYHA).

Thank you all! I signed him up for the learn to play class and the next set of skate lessons. He is OK on the ice when we go for fun. Im hoping it ends there, because i know how time intensive this sport can be. But I'll let him give those classes a go.

Side note, is street or field hockey a thing around here for boys? If we could strip the ice part i would be more inclined to support!

This is DC not Toronto. It's not too late. But you need to get moving on the skating. Check out your closest rinks and go from there. The more ice time, the better.

It's late but doable. He'll need learn to skate 2 and then learn to play hockey 1 and 2. Hockey is an expensive and time intensive sport. My 13 yo is not back from his high school game yet and it's a Wednesday night.

Get him on the ice 5x per week skating (including as many lessons and clinics as you can find) and set up a shooting area at home for him with synthetic ice to shoot off and targets. Also look for hocle th shemmer camps. We had 1 kid on our AA team that started that late and got quite good in 2 years.

Where are you located? Asking because I can speak to what they do at MedSTAR in Arlington before you can do a hockey team. You have to take learn to play hockey, which is a really fun class but before that, you also have to do “learn to hockey skate” classes even if you already know how to ice skate. Seems like a process, but it’s totally worth it and the kids have a ton of fun. You could also take some private lessons for hockey skating over the summer to Speed up the process.

Is 10 too late to play hockey? My son is suddenly very interested and keeps asking to find a team. He can skate recreational, like make it around the rink without falling, but I assume he would need several months of skate lessons before becoming hockey ready. I want to tell him this isn't a sport you start at this age in this area! But please share your experience if you have any.