How To Become An Ice Hockey Coach: What It Is and Career Path

What is an ice hockey coach and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Ice hockey coaches train teams of hockey players in college, or as professional athletes. They oversee the physical and mental preparation players need to achieve their top performance. They come up with strategies for the teams to follow during matches, assess the strengths and weaknesses of players, and decide which player to put on the ice in what position.

As an ice hockey coach, you will monitor the ice and assess the game of the opposing team. You will set lines for defense and offense moves. You will know everything about power play and how to lead your team to victory.

A passion for sports is perhaps the most important asset you can have here. Coaches generally have a professional past in sports and know every physical and mental aspect that goes into a winning game. You know how to challenge your players without exhausting them, pushing their limits without risking injury. You have a deep understanding of successful tactics and have what it takes to motivate your players and bring out the most in them. The average salary you can expect to earn in this position is around $41,599 per year.

ScoreIce Hockey CoachUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $44,036

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.0

Growth Rate 20%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.22%

Asian 5.52%

Black or African American 8.98%

Hispanic or Latino 13.14%

Unknown 5.62%

White 66.53%

Gender

female 34.35%

male 65.65%

Age - 34

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 34

Stress Level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.4

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.3

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an ice hockey coach

Explore ice hockey coach education requirements

Most common ice hockey coach degrees

Bachelor's

78.2 %

Master's

8.2 %

Associate

7.1 %

Start to develop specific ice hockey coach skills

Skills	Percentages
CPR	33.83%
NCAA	8.98%
Student Athletes	6.35%
JV	6.31%
Ice Hockey	5.78%

Complete relevant ice hockey coach training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New ice hockey coaches learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an ice hockey coach based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real ice hockey coach resumes.

Research ice hockey coach duties and responsibilities

Provide guidance for individual athletes and assist them in achieving spots within elite summer rowing programs in Philadelphia.
Coach the JV field hockey team at the local high school.
Experience officiating professional, NCAA, junior, and amateur hockey.
Help guide one of the most successful high school hockey programs in the state to a championship game.

Prepare your ice hockey coach resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your ice hockey coach resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an ice hockey coach resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Ice Hockey Coach Resume templates

Build a professional Ice Hockey Coach resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Ice Hockey Coach resume.

Apply for ice hockey coach jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an ice hockey coach job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do ice hockey coaches rate their job?

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Ice Hockey Coach reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019

Pros

Working with individual players in one on one lessons. That's when I get a real chance to find out what knowledge the athlete is bringing to practice, who taught him that, and how and why it may work or not be the best technique available. I am about as nuanced a coach as you could get. The game of football is one of mental fortitude, discipline, and preparation. Raw athleticism, circus catches and big hits or helmet to helmet collisions.

Cons

I don't like parents getting involved or attempting to persuade coaching decisions such as play playing time and depth chart seeding. What I would allow for is any of my concerned parents (at any potential public school) who wouldn't ordinarily come watch practice and see the way the coaching staff interacts with your student athlete as we will go through a proper tackling methods clinic for LB/defensive backs, different types of blocking for the offensive and even the multiple defensive pash rush techniques that are now able to be implemented by a modern football coach.