Staff Writer & Beer League Player
Beer league hockey player for 10+ years and former league commissioner who's managed scheduling for leagues with 30+ teams. Alex spent years building schedules in spreadsheets before discovering there had to be a better way. Now he writes about the real challenges of running hockey leagues at every level.
Hosting a tournament is simultaneously the best idea and the worst idea your association will ever have. Done right, it generates real revenue, builds your rep, and gives your community a weekend to remember. Done wrong, it's 48 hours of pure chaos with a rink full of angry coaches. Here's everything you need to pull it off.
No ice? No problem. Inline hockey is the most accessible way to get a league going — lower costs, year-round play, and you can literally start in a parking lot. Here's how to get from idea to opening faceoff.
An honest look at free hockey league management platforms — what's genuinely free, what has more asterisks than a penalty box report, and when it's actually worth paying.
Ice time is your biggest expense and rinks are counting on you not knowing that. Here's how we've learned to negotiate better rates, stop wasting ice, and squeeze 20% more value out of a contract — including one expensive lesson about 10:45 PM Sunday hockey.
Everything you need to know about starting and competing in ACHA Division 3 hockey, from registration requirements to building a competitive roster on a club budget.
ACHA paperwork isn't the glamorous part of club hockey—but miss one deadline and your players can't suit up. Here's how to stay compliant without losing your mind.
Co-ed hockey leagues are one of the fastest-growing things in adult recreational hockey — and one of the easiest to get wrong. Here's the full guide to building one that's actually fun for everyone on the roster.
Finding hockey players for your college club team is part hustle, part luck, and mostly just showing up everywhere at once. Here's what actually works — from stalking intramurals to owning the club fair to building a tryout experience people actually want to come back for.
Nothing kills a beer league faster than a three-way tie for the last playoff spot with no rules written down. Here's how to design standings that actually work—before someone loses their mind over a coin flip.
Most beer leagues leave serious money on the table because asking for sponsorships feels awkward. It doesn't have to. Here's exactly how to find sponsors, pitch them like you mean it, and keep them coming back — with real examples from leagues pulling in $10K-$50K a year.
Your campus probably has intramural basketball, soccer, and flag football — but no hockey. Here's how to fix that: a step-by-step guide to launching an intramural hockey league covering everything from convincing the rec department to actually getting pucks on ice.
If you run ice hockey and you're thinking about adding inline — or vice versa — the operations are different enough that it's worth understanding before you dive in. Here's the real deal on rules, costs, scheduling, and what actually changes.
The final buzzer went, the trophy's been hoisted, and you're already thinking about cold ones. But hold up — the off-season window is when good commissioners separate themselves from the ones who spend September in a full-blown panic. Here's the 25-item checklist that keeps next season from turning into a dumpster fire.
Pond hockey is hockey at its purest — no Zamboni, no glass, no problem. Here's how to pull off an outdoor league without losing your mind (or anyone through thin ice).
Hockey is a contact sport and stuff happens — but one uninsured incident can end your league and your savings. Here's what coverage you actually need, where to get it, and what to do when someone finally goes down.
Starting a hockey league is basically volunteering for a second job nobody pays you for. Here's everything you need—registration, scheduling, refs, finances—laid out so your first season doesn't blow up.
An honest rundown of the 7 best hockey league management platforms in 2026 — pricing, features, what's actually good, and what'll drive you crazy. So you can stop guessing and pick the right one for your league.
Scheduling a hockey league is basically a logic puzzle wrapped in a guilt trip. Here's what actually works—round-robin formats, constraint wrangling, and the software that'll save you from yourself.
We've all been there — 9 PM on a Thursday, scrambling for refs for Saturday's game. The hockey referee shortage is real, it's getting worse, and it's partly our fault. Here's what leagues can actually do about it.
Running a hockey tournament is basically herding cats on ice while also managing the ice, the refs, the cats' parents, and a budget. This is the operations manual nobody handed me when I started.
The regular season ends and suddenly you're staring down four months of no hockey. Lower ice costs, wide-open rink schedules, and a rink full of players who are absolutely not ready to hang up their skates make summer the perfect time to start something. Here's your complete startup guide.
We've all been on a team that got stuck with the 10:30 PM slot every single week. Here's how commissioners screw up schedules—and how to not be that guy.
Pick the wrong bracket format and you'll have parents furious they drove four hours for one game. Pick the right one and everyone goes home happy. Here's the honest breakdown of every format, when to use it, and what we've learned running tournaments the hard way.
No varsity program? No problem. Here's how a handful of rink rats with a dream actually get a club team off the ground—from the interest survey to the first official puck drop.
Playoffs should be the fun part—not the part where half your league quits over a bracket complaint. Here's how to design one that's actually fair, actually exciting, and won't make you want to hide your phone.
The winter season's over but nobody's ready to put the skates away. Here's how to plan a spring hockey league that's actually fun to run and even more fun to play in.
Every beer league that tries to 'just wing it' on rules eventually ends up with a full locker room meltdown over something that could've been settled in one sentence. Save yourself the drama — here's a complete rules template you can actually use.
Your goalies are out there fighting for their lives while you're busy not tracking a single shot. Here's how to actually calculate GAA, save percentage, and advanced metrics — plus the mistakes that'll make your tendy quit.
A 6-year-old Mite and a 14-year-old Midget should not be running the same drills. Here's how to actually plan practices that fit your age group — with structure, real drill ideas, and zero wasted ice time.
Dek hockey is hockey without the $800 skates, the $300 ice fees, or the excuse that you never learned to skate. Here's how to run a ball hockey league that actually fills up and keeps players coming back.
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