Learn-to-Play (LTP, previously known as "Initiation") hockey is an introductory on-ice program for kids that have little to no skating experience. New players are instructed on basic skating fundamentals and introduced to the game of hockey with fun and engaging practices.

The most exciting part is that our hockey club is proud to offer the first session your skater participates in, including rental hockey gear (as available), completely free! Join us on the ice for a session!

1) Register your player with USA Hockey (the governing body for youth hockey in the US).

2) Register your player with Middleton Youth Hockey. Our players are grouped by age (their birth years). If you have questions, please email your player's ALD (Age Level Director) here.

If you're not sure what to register your skater for - please begin here.

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Young skaters that are new to skating & hockey. We recommend that kids are between ages 3 and 8 years old. Some families, particularly with kids on the older end of this range, might prefer skipping this step and going straight to Cross-Ice hockey.

Practices are primarily held at Bob Suter's Legacy20 Arena in Middleton (aka Capitol Ice Arena) with the possibility of a practice at another local rink as needed (rarely).

We offer 3 different 7-week-long sessions beginning in the autumn and ending in late winter. Saturday morning practices. Skaters are on the ice one session per week with nothing scheduled for holiday weekends.

Learn-to-Play hockey doesn't feature competitive hockey games against other local clubs. When your little hockey player is ready for that step - we offer Cross-Ice hockey. We've built our Learn-to-Play and Cross-Ice schedules to provide an opportunity to move up into Cross-Ice at the December holiday break to join the second half of the Cross-Ice season. Fear not - this is a common next step and other local clubs provide the same opportunity.

As we mentioned above - your skater's first session and rental gear (as available) are free! Many families choose to purchase gear - but it's not necessary to give hockey a try. Your skater will need skates and a hockey stick.

Middleton Youth Hockey will provide a red or black Cardinals practice jersey to each participant.

You can learn a lot more about our rental gear here.

We're proud to offer the first session for free but your skater will need to register with USA Hockey to skate. These costs are generally pretty low for the youngest skaters.

After the first session, additional sessions and rental gear are not free.

Each of our hockey age levels has a volunteer director. To contact Learn to Play's Age Level Director (ALD), please email:

LTP@middletonyouthhockey.com

As this content is new - we're still working on it before the season.

We'll aim to have common questions and their answers here soon! Thanks for your patience.