GETTING STARTED   How to choose a hockey club in Toronto   Play with friends At the younger ages it is easier if your child has a friend to play with. So wherever you decide to play, talk to your kid’s friends parents, and see if you can have a couple of friends go to the same league and play on the same team.     Convenience   Where are the games? This is not as important as you may think, as you will be driving to hockey anyway. Driving two blocks or two kilometers makes little difference unless it is on a weekday morning or evening.   When are the games? For some, Saturday practices and Sunday games interfere with going away to the chalet for the weekends. For others, weekend hockey means that hockey does not interfere with homework, music lessons, and other activities during the week. Weekend Knights hockey does permit ski lessons as far away as Barrie, but it is probably not practical to get to Collingwood every weekend.     Training If your child is keen to play hockey, his or her rate of improvement, and thus to some extent enjoyment of the game, will depend on practice. You can provide skating lessons to your child in addition to hockey, but there is no substitute for practicing with a team. Some leagues provide no practice, just games. Others provide a combined “skills session” instead of individual team practices. Some provide shared ice practices, with two or more teams sharing the ice. Knights provide shared ice practice at Tyke and Novice levels but full ice for the key years when the kids are older; we revert to shared ice once the players are in high school.     Select Program Knights select (all star) players have an extra game and an extra practice every week, so the players are on the ice four times a week. If your child is a better than average player, he or she may be able to play select. See our select page for more information. Kids who play select improve more quickly and enjoy a higher level of hockey. Select can be a step to GTHL A or AA play, and is the usual introduction to competitive hockey for Tyke and Novice players. If this describes your child, join a league which can consistently field a select team, or perhaps two, at your child’s age level.     Culture There is probably very little difference in culture among community house league programs. We all rely on volunteer coaches; we all have an easy-going atmosphere as house league hockey is not particularly competitive. We have friends at many other community hockey organizations.     GTHL Teams If your child will play at the GTHL A and AA levels, it may be helpful to choose a house league with a good reputation and record at that level. The Knights A and AA teams are consistently strong and well-coached.     Equipment   This is the equipment you will need to play hockey: helmet and complete face guard meeting current CSA standards neck guard, bearing the insignia "B.N.Q." shoulder pads elbow protectors hockey gloves hockey practice jersey hockey pants jock/jill protector with strap/shorts shin guards hockey socks skates stick water bottle (sharing of water bottles is not recommended, especially with younger players)