Taking young kids to a UAH hockey game

As a Charger Hockey fan, I do everything to involve my kids in going to games. My son went to his first game at 6 months old, and this past season I took both he (2.5 at the time) and my two-week old daughter to the home opener. In the past three seasons, we haven’t missed a home game, and both kids have really enjoyed it.

During the past three seasons I’ve learned a few little tricks that work really well for us. Granted my now 3.5 year old loves the game but there are certain strategies that I’ve developed over the past few seasons that help so much with dealing with little ones. Some of these tips are for going to more than one game this season but let’s face it you should try and do that anyway!

1. Before the game if your little one still takes naps make sure they get one and a good snack before you leave for the game. Normally for a 7pm puck drop we will postpone nap at least an hour and will even let my oldest eat his snack on the way to the game. This normally leaves the kids in a better mood for most of the night and we rarely have issues with them staying up way past their bed time or being too terribly hungry during the game.
2. Get to the arena early. Since my husband is a volunteer photographer for the team we are normally there well before the doors open. I’m not saying get there as early as that but if you have to it’s not bad. During this time I let my son (and this year my daughter) run around in the lobby or ticket area. Many times there are other Blue Line Club members there too and we always seem to befriend a few every year.

   Once the doors open we get a program and to check out if the book store has anything new out that night then we go walk around for a while. My son is obsessed with steps and loves to climb up and down so we normally spend some time letting him get his climbing fix in before we go watch warm-ups at ice level.

   The next two points go together.

3. Befriend the security guards
4. Take your kid(s) to watch the team warm-up at ice level.
   First I take the kids to where the guys walk onto the ice so he can hit their gloves as they walk out then we normally go right below box 5 and I’ll let my son sit in a box seat just for warm ups. Now to do this I generally make sure the security guard knows that we will just be there for warm up then will be heading back upstairs to our seats. Rarely have I ever had a problem with doing this over the past 3 seasons. Over the past couple of years we had one security guard that worked the same area every time and he was great! He is really nice and always good to talk to while we watched warm ups. He loves saying hi to the kids and knows that we will gladly move if we are in someone’s seat.

   The other reason to watch warm-ups is its exciting! Pucks typically go flying all over the glass, the music is loud ,and there is a ton of movement. For young kids—and even when my daughter was only a couple of months old—this was really interesting and generally all the action can hold their attention quite well at least for a few minutes. Also from my experience, the players really like it when they see young kids watching warm-ups. Sometimes they will even toss a puck to them at the end or simply wave to them while they are lined up on the glass. Either way, the kids get a really big kick out of it!

   Also if you plan on going to more than one game this season—and you should—generally the same people work the same areas every week. Most of the security staff we have met are very friendly and always get a kick out of us walking around before the game. Knowing the faces of these people and having them know you can really help to make the experience even better for both you and your kids.

5. Choose your seat carefully.
   Choosing your seats is something that to me depends on the ages of your kids. We sit upstairs partially because we are part of the loud mouth student/alumni section and partially because it’s less crowded and I can get a couple of extra seats. Also the likelihood of a puck flying all the way up there isn’t very good. Anyone who has a child under the age of 4 knows that their attention span at times is not very long. Having a little bit of extra room for them to move can help a lot. With older kids I would consider sitting down lower because they are more apt to actually watch more of the game and probably aren’t as wanting to move all the time and can be more aware of flying pucks.
6. Walk during intermissions.
   Just getting up and going to the bathroom or doing a couple of laps around the arena is a great way to let a little one move. Also this makes them more able to stay in one place during the period if they have had a chance to move around. I generally try and get back to our seats with about two minutes or less left so that we use all available time to get the wiggles out for the next half hour or so.
7. Bring snacks a favorite toy and small drink.
   Enough said. Favorite snacks, a toy and a drink can make a rough period of hockey great for them. I generally will make a trail mix of sorts and take it with us to snack on during the game and will make sure the sippy cups are all filled up before we leave the house. I have been known at times to also keep an extra bottle of water or juice with us in the diaper bag just in case.

Finally, when you go to the game, just try and enjoy it. The atmosphere at a UAH hockey game is unlike an NHL or SPHL game. There is very physical play but rarely a fight. One of the things I really love about UAH hockey is the control the guys show on the ice. Having a 3.5 year old who loves the game, I want him to see hockey as a very physical game that can be played cleanly without having to fight.

Hope to see you at some of the games this year!