Hockey is an important part of our Family, as such going to Hockey Tournaments is a common occurrence and being prepared is a necessity. Not all the places you go for Tournaments have the best facilities so arriving without being prepared can be a recipe for disaster.
Pre-Tournament Prep:
- Skate sharpening - Get your skates and any spare blades sharpened right before the tournament by your go-to skate sharpener. When you are at the tournament and realize you need them sharpened, you’ll be at the mercy of available time and nearest location of skate sharpening if one even exists.
- Clearly label your equipment - At every hockey tournament, there are tons of hockey sticks, skates and water bottles. Hockey players are not always the most careful about keeping their equipment safe and organized in the locker room. So, before the tournament, label everything! That way in the locker room melee of packing up gear, your hockey equipment is easily identifiable. Personalized grips on your hockey stick can make your stick easy to spot in the hockey stick pile.
- Extra Stick - If you don't have an extra stick you should, as a coach I've seen many times one break in a game or outside a game and a parent had to find a new stick in an emergency usually at a very high price (if one could even be found, remember a hockey store doesn't exist everywhere!).
Home & Away Packing List:
- Any piece of hockey equipment you think you could possibly need - And backups, whenever possible. See Player Equipment List.
- Lots of clothes for your player – Remember that clothes and socks will be wet and smelly after each game and therefore not re-wearable. You can mitigate the amount needed if your able to and willing to do laundry while at the tournament.
- Garbage bag - for sealing up those dirty clothes and their accompanying aroma for the ride home.
- Extra small towel for your skates – When packing, make sure to include and extra small towel for drying skate blades to prevent rust.
- Things to do for downtime – Although downtime is limited, there is always some over the course of the tournament weekend and not all tournaments are in a spot with something to do locally, so bring some stuff to occupy the time: gaming handheld, headphones, a deck of cards, books, homework etc.
- Electronics - Load a tablet/phones with movies, shows and games. Car rides can be long. Make sure you bring chargers for all the gadgets.
- Bring Your Own Snacks – For before/after the game and back at the hotel room in the evenings, you want to bring a ton of snacks and drinks so you are not paying exorbitant prices at rinks.
- Emergency Travel kit - Bandaids, antibacterial wipes, Neosporin, instant ice packs and more for cuts and scrapes. Also medicine for stomach issues and headaches.
- Hand Sanitizer - Lots of grimy kids, usually during cold and flu season… take it seriously as I've seen entire teams brought down due to sickness!
- Baby Powder - for drying out helmets, skates and gloves between the games. Don't use a lot of it as a little can help make these things more comfortable to wear when equipment doesn't have a lot of time to dry.
- Febreze - Can of Febreze for hotel room and/or car, Your sleeping and driving with the smelly equipment nearby!
- Disinfectant spray - Lysol or something, for disinfecting equipment and other stuff. If your child wears the equipment direct on their skin, make sure you go lightly as to much can irritate the skin.