Playing Hockey While Studying Abroad

[dw91 0]

Lately I've been doing some research on hockey in Germany and Austria, as I will be studying abroad in one of those countries next spring. I just wanted to see if any MSH'ers had pulled off something like getting on a european recreational or semi-pro team after Christmas, and playing the rest of the year, while going to school. I think it would be a great experience, and I'm going to look into it seriously. My school has partnerships with Dresden (Germany), Friedrichshafen (Germany), Saarbruecken (Germany), Heidelberg(Germany), and Vienna, but I'm going to try to swing going to Innsbruck, as they have a good Civil Engineering program, and the scenery looks pretty cool. If anyone has any input I would appreciate it greatly.

[twolinepass 0]

If you play at your current school (even club) you might lose your eligibility.

[dw91 0]

Yeah, I read up on the eligibility stuff, but it's really a non-factor. If I can play amateur and keep it, cool, if not, I'm not going to be missing much.

[bigdmac 12]

Yeah, I read up on the eligibility stuff, but it's really a non-factor. If I can play amateur and keep it, cool, if not, I'm not going to be missing much.

I studied in Austrailia, and was able to play on a pro team there, with no problems. Granted an Austrailian "pro team" is 75% Canadian with a couple americans. It would be equivilent to about a 'B' league here in Canada. Im not sure if this will help seeing your going to Europe, but hopefully it can help you out a bit.

[BarDownGinos 3]

Lately I've been doing some research on hockey in Germany and Austria, as I will be studying abroad in one of those countries next spring. I just wanted to see if any MSH'ers had pulled off something like getting on a european recreational or semi-pro team after Christmas, and playing the rest of the year, while going to school. I think it would be a great experience, and I'm going to look into it seriously. My school has partnerships with Dresden (Germany), Friedrichshafen (Germany), Saarbruecken (Germany), Heidelberg(Germany), and Vienna, but I'm going to try to swing going to Innsbruck, as they have a good Civil Engineering program, and the scenery looks pretty cool. If anyone has any input I would appreciate it greatly.

Innsbruck is awesome. I've spent a decent amount of time there as well as many of the towns just over the border in Germany. I believe Innsbruck has 2 "pro" teams, not sure if they are both in the National League or not. It's not easy to land a spot on a team over there. But if you're already going to be there with a student visa you'll have less trouble than some. If you can swing an EU/Austrian passport you'll be in even better shape as you wouldn't count as an import. But half the battle is getting there, so you may be in decent shape to get a spot if you can play.

[dw91 0]

If you can swing an EU/Austrian passport you'll be in even better shape as you wouldn't count as an import

Is there somewhere with a list of import rules for austrian leagues? I've watched youtube videos of some rec teams there, and it seems a little underwhelming. Also, do you have any experience with the EU passport process? I'm a U.S. Citizen, and the last european citizen in my family was my great-great-great-grandfather on my father's side (German). I feel like that is a bit of a stretch.

[twolinepass 0]

I think its the import rules that make it hard for people from north america. The company I was working for had an office in China and I look at the league they had over there.. The locals were at about low beer level but they only allowed a few import players and they were all D1/Juniors type of players

[BarDownGinos 3]

Is there somewhere with a list of import rules for austrian leagues? I've watched youtube videos of some rec teams there, and it seems a little underwhelming. Also, do you have any experience with the EU passport process? I'm a U.S. Citizen, and the last european citizen in my family was my great-great-great-grandfather on my father's side (German). I feel like that is a bit of a stretch.

Pretty sure you have to have a living relative to get an EU passport, and probably fill out 20,000 pages of paperwork. The import rules vary from country to country. Germany, where I played as a kid didn't and still has no import limit restrictions. In Germany you were counted as an import for 3 years, after that you were considered a German citizen as far as hockey was concerned. I have no idea what Austria's rules are though. Two places you might be able to find some answers are:

www.eurohockey.net- this website was pretty relevant 5-6 years ago with good information, I looked at it the other day and it appeared that it has not been updated in quite some time, but there may still be some current links with good information.

www.37hockey.com- this is an agency out of Utah. They're a smaller ageny that only deals with NA minor leagues and European leagues. They would probably be able to give you the answers you're looking for and possibly even help you out.

[stuie7 6]

I'd learn the language of wherever you're going, they're not going to learn to speak fluent English for you!

[dw91 0]

I'd learn the language of wherever you're going, they're not going to learn to speak fluent English for you!

Keine Sorgen, ich spreche Deutsch ziemlich gut (translation: don't worry, I speak german fairly good). The language is a big appeal to me for playing hockey, you can only learn so much in a classroom setting. I can't think of a better place for me to learn more conversational german than at a hockey rink.

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

I'd learn the language of wherever you're going, they're not going to learn to speak fluent English for you!

That's a bit of a problem for my team this year. We have about 8 russians this year and they don't speak much english.

[adam14 182]

your league doesn't have import rules?

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

your league doesn't have import rules?

nope. Also proclaims it's junior A when it's more of the level of play of the local junior B leagues with less chances to move up.

[adam14 182]

What league are you playing in?

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

What league are you playing in?

http://ijhl.us/

I'm not playing empire or mjhl because of some of my friends not liking some of the local teams. I didn't practice with the team until november and it was a pleasent surprise to see the team was much improved from last year. The league is SLOWlY getting better. Ken Hodge's son runs a team