Hi, OffisdeMoose!
I live in Minnesota, where young people playing hockey is just baked in. It'll be different in Texas, though there seems to be enough interest around DFW and Houston that what you want will be easier to find. Are you near either of those two metropolitan areas?
If a school or recreation center near you doesn't offer leagues or even intramural hockey, you might see if colleges around you have hockey programs that would let you play. Or you could post on neighborhood groups on Facebook or Reddit or NextDoor looking for people like you who just wanna play. You may have to compromise to street hockey or 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 sessions and it may take a while to build up more than a squad. But maybe now is the time to start while the Stars are still on TV and in the newspaper for going after the Stanley Cup.
As for used equipment, around here are stores that sell second-hand sports equipment of all kinds. It may not be as easy to find used hockey gear in Texas. You might need to call around a few places and maybe talk someone into making a road trip to wherever that store is located. On-line might be a possibility too though sometimes fit is a really personal thing (I played goalie in college on secondhand equipment and, well, it was okay. We didn't have online back then).
Maybe someone else here will post about their experiences in a non-hockey-crazy place (like Minnesota).
I live in Minnesota, where young people playing hockey is just baked in. It'll be different in Texas, though there seems to be enough interest around DFW and Houston that what you want will be easier to find. Are you near either of those two metropolitan areas?
If a school or recreation center near you doesn't offer leagues or even intramural hockey, you might see if colleges around you have hockey programs that would let you play. Or you could post on neighborhood groups on Facebook or Reddit or NextDoor looking for people like you who just wanna play. You may have to compromise to street hockey or 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 sessions and it may take a while to build up more than a squad. But maybe now is the time to start while the Stars are still on TV and in the newspaper for going after the Stanley Cup.
As for used equipment, around here are stores that sell second-hand sports equipment of all kinds. It may not be as easy to find used hockey gear in Texas. You might need to call around a few places and maybe talk someone into making a road trip to wherever that store is located. On-line might be a possibility too though sometimes fit is a really personal thing (I played goalie in college on secondhand equipment and, well, it was okay. We didn't have online back then).
Maybe someone else here will post about their experiences in a non-hockey-crazy place (like Minnesota).
