Hockey In Europe While Studying Abroad

[dw91 0]

I am a freshman in college, and beginning to look into study abroad possibilities. I want to study abroad for a semester or a whole year, since my school has an excellent financial aid program. I also play club hockey very competitively. My question is this: has anyone ever found a competitive team to play on while studying abroad, or know of anyone that could help me with my situation? I've been looking around for european hockey forums to post on, but they all seem to be dead. If it helps, I am looking to study in a german speaking country. Before anyone says it, yes, I know, studying abroad is not purely a vacation, there is studying involved. Thanks for any help you can give.

[kovyperron5727 0]

I don't personally know, but there are some people on this board (legiahockey is the one I know of) who play in Europe who may be able to help

[mrruin 0]

If you want to study in Graz, Austria you could play in the biggest hockey hobby league in europe (world?), the NHL-Graz.

http://www.hockeyserver.net/nhlgraz/html-i...?l=de&lid=8

http://www.nhl-graz.com/

(both in german)

48 Teams in 8 Groups are competing at various skill levels. If that league is not good enough for you, you can also play in the official leagues that offer play up to almost any skill level. It is a very rich hockey market for players.

Graz offers a wide variety of studies and has multiple universities.

http://portal.tugraz.at/portal/page/portal/TU_Graz Technical University

http://www.kfunigraz.ac.at/E/ University

http://www.fh-joanneum.at/aw/~a/home/?lan=en College

[flymonty3 0]

I have quite a bit of experience with this subject, both as a minor-pro player in Europe and as a professional who works in the hockey industry on a daily basis .....

if you are planning on playing any type of competitive hockey in Europe, remember most countries have restrictions on import players, allowing "X" amount of foreign players per team. Some leagues also require those import players to be citizens of a European Union country.

If you are a pretty good club hockey player you could probably play in leagues like the French div. 3 (4th level), Turkish league, Swedish 2nd or 3rd division (4th or 5th level), Finnish div. 2 (4th level), Belgian, Dutch 2nd league, Norwegian 2nd or 3rd league, Danish 2nd league or the Spanish league. Regardless of where you go, i would expect you to have to attend a tryout unless you have legit Jr. "A" experience or some decent accolades on your resume.

Remember this also: The economy in Europe has been hit hard also. This means teams have folded or cut budgets at the professional and semi-pro levels quite drastically in some countries. This in turn creates an influx of domestic players with pretty significant professional experience that have been returning to the amateur level to play for free or cheap while living at home waiting for an opening at a higher level. This creates a trickle down effect, thus making it very, very difficult for players wanting to venture to Europe for the "experience" to earn a spot on the team. In other words, if you want to play somewhere, you NEED to take action now in preparation for next season.

Here is what to expect:

You will more than likely have to tryout with whatever club you plan to play for. European seasons start in August/September so teams start organizing their roster in March/April so you need to begin making contacts with teams ASAP

Plan on having to to pay the cost of your own IIHF international transfer card which will run you about 1,500 Euro. At the lower levels of Europe, they expect foreign players who are paid to play to have 2-5 points per game... Those players have their costs covered but only because they are being paid to "carry" their club and be a go to guy in all situations. The opportunities for players like yourself will come when they are covering their own expenses or "paying to play" because at that point you only need to be a better than a domestic player...

The team may or may not give you equipment, so plan on paying for your hockey like you would in the ACHA. I played in a lower French level and the team provided all my equipment, and sticks and I got a pair of skates at xmas. this isn't typical of most lower levels because the cost of equipment is ridiculous and most teams simply dont have the budget.

Plan on paying your own living expenses. This means rent, utilities, food, ETC. If you get lucky, a team may have a guy you can room with for free or a discounted rate, but dont expect it. Some cities in Europe are quite pricey to live in, so you might want to make your choice based on that....

Working will be very difficult because you will need a work visa to land a legit job, and that is damn near impossible as an american citizen unless you happen to be a doctor or a master of some other trade. Your student visa usually wont allow work either... You might get lucky and pick up a cash job but like I have said before, dont count on it...

Remember, you will be playing at a level that is classified as an "amateur" level, so plan on only practicing 1-2 times a week, and some weekends will only have 1 game. i know some ACHA programs are on the ice 4-5 days a week so this may be a shock...

Other than that, it can be an awesome experience that you treasure forever... Especially if you know what to expect beforehand.

The first thing you need to do is decide what university you will be attending than go from there. I really, really suggest hiring a reputable agency or placement company that has the contacts to get you a place to play. This will run you $500-$750 but will prevent you from being placed into a shady situation that can harm you in the long run. The next problem you will have is finding a semi-legit agent that will work with you because your resume isn't exactly that of a pro hockey player, but given the circumstances someone may help you out. If you get the wrong agent helping you out, you will only end up wasting money and valuable time in the process...

Let me know if you have any questions!

[stuie7 6]

If you're going to come to europe you might want to concider a country where the courses are going to be in English (maybe you speak German well enough to use at university, not sure if thats what you meant), but I understand that there are courses run in Sweden in International English (not sure if its just at masters level or bachelor level as well). Might be worth concidering :)

[dw91 0]

flymonty, I don't plan on going next year, but possibly my junior or senior year. Thank you for all the info. I will PM you as I get some more information on studying abroad from my school. I speak german fairly well, and I plan to continue my studies of german, so hopefully I will be almost fluent by the time I study over there. I wouldn't be averse to studying in another country if it meant more competitive hockey though. I've always thought it would be awesome to play hockey in europe while studying there, so I'm starting to consider making that dream a reality. Thanks again for the help so far. flymonty, is there somewhere where import restrictions for each of the leagues are listed? I've been looking for that but can't seem to find that information.

[dw91 0]

flymonty3, I sent you a PM