If you are new to youth hockey you may find yourself wondering just how long your player’s game will be once regular season starts up. Let’s discuss youth hockey game length by age.
How Long are Youth Hockey Games?
First, let me say that USA Hockey does not seem to have a set standard as to how long each level should play for. From what I can find, they just say that at most periods should be between 17-20 minutes for the oldest players(18U Co-Ed or 16U/19U All Girls). Our club is based in Missouri Hockey Youth Division, but I will compare against Northern Illinois Hockey League as well to help give a fuller picture.
Your best resource is always your club or league, so don’t feel silly if you need to reach out to them.
Also, we are going to go over just the different times for developmental hockey levels 8U to 18U(co-ed)/16U-19U(all girls). Travel teams are all considered A or lower. AA, AAA, and Junior Hockey have their own guidelines.
Period Length by age level:
8U: 11-12 minutes per period
10U: 11-13 minutes per period
12U: 12-14 minutes per period
14U: 13-15 minutes per period
16U: 15-16 minutes per period
18U(co-ed), 16U/19U(all girls): 15-17 minutes per period
From my experience with a 12U player and 14U player 12U teams are allotted an hour of ice time per game and 14U usually gets 1 hour 20 minutes. The 14U number could be a little bit more or a bit less depending on the rink. This should give enough time during the game for ice resurfacing, warm-ups, 3 periods, 2 short 1-2 minute intermissions, and time for penalties or game stoppages.
If you have a question, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your own club or even your team’s hockey league. The more people that know the correct information helps game days to run as smoothly as possible!
Find more posts all about getting started in youth hockey with this collection of helpful posts.