Hockey Tours – 7 Tips For a Successful Hockey Tour in Europe

Everybody in Canada is attracted to the old countries. The wide range of amazing European places to visit and discover is almost too numerous to count. And since our national sport is played by nearly half of the active population, it’s pretty obvious that most people will someday be attracted to playing on foreign ice while visiting all the historical places around.

But sometimes, people get overexcited about their upcoming trip, and too often, they plan the tour without thinking about all the issues that can arise before, during, and after the time. Different kinds of trips go with other teams (oldtimers, girls, minors, etc…). A sports tour is more complicated than a regular trip, and there is no simple way to take care of every detail. That is why the next seven tips should be considered as the basic advice to follow when planning this kind of tour, and it doesn’t matter if you are a player, a coach, or a manager; everybody should follow a guideline because group travel is not the same as going on a vacation alone.

1- The decision, the team, and the commitment:

Of course, once the decision is made to go on a hockey tour, the first thing to do before moving forward is to have a team ready to work and follow you to make it happen. If your group is not involved in every aspect of the preparations, you won’t be able to make them participate in all the upcoming activities.

Every member of the group (player, parents, and coaches) needs to realize that they all have some part to do and that it’s impossible to complete the project without their help. Once you are sure of their commitment, make sure that YOU are ready for the biggest task, making the moves since someone has to do it in the end.

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2- The agency

Many people think they are smart enough to plan the tour by themselves, and of course, it’s possible to do it. With the power of the internet and all the resources online, someone with a lot of free time and determination can “patch” a decent schedule. But the fact is there are so many unknown aspects and so many things to think about that most of the time, the trip will end up a disappointing experience.

People must understand that there are too many things to settle for a single person without on-site experience or contact. The most difficult part is planning the games or tournaments with all the aspects surrounding it: transport, lodging, insurance, local guide, language barrier, quality, distances, visits, support, etc. There are a lot of companies that organize sports tours, and some of them are good, of course. The problem is that most of them are only travel agencies putting a mask on and claiming to be specialists when somebody tells them about sports. The truth is you need an agency that ONLY Does HOCKEY TOURS. Why? Simply because every company member is specialized and passionate about the same thing as you and because they probably have a lot of experience in both of the designed fields of competence (Hockey and Europe).

To know what can happen during a stay in a particular country, you need someone who has been there and learns the place’s aspects. This person probably lived the same kind of experience as the one you want to accomplish, so he knows exactly what you need to do to ensure the trip is as good as possible.

Some good companies exist, but they are expensive because they have so many staff members to include on their payroll.

3. The budget, the destination, and the length

Probably the toughest part of the procedure. Following your agency’s expertise, your team must agree on a destination, a length, and a realistic budget. The most frequent major mistake travelers make is planning to see too much! “Yeah, and why not?” you say. “Europe is small so that we can get everywhere quickly.” While that is true, the hard fact is that you will have a painful trip if you decide to move around too much.

Traveling by bus (even superior coaches) for more than 2 hours daily can annoy everybody, and the mood can drop quickly. The other thing to think about is the kind of road ahead. Even on the highway, the buses are often limited to 90km/h, and since you probably have some mountain roads to pass along the way, you will then be moving at an average of 40-50km/h. So a 100km itinerary that seems pretty short on a map can take 2 hours.

You must choose 2 or 3 “headquarters” to split your trip conveniently. You’ll surely avoid missing some great stuff while enjoying a short ride and keep the spirit up. For example, a 10-day trip can be split among 2-3 major centers separated by 200-300 km. This way, you won’t be sleeping in 6 different hotels, which would involve a lot of packing and unpacking, and you will also have only 2 or 3 “transport” days that won’t waste an entire two hours on moving around.

The other conflict that can arise is the allowed budget. Remember that with all the fees involved, it is NOT realistic to think of going on a hockey tour for $900$ or even $1900$ (except for short trips). The airfares alone range between $1000$ and $2000$, depending on your destination. That is a big chunk of money. The budget will also depend on the country and the choice of accommodations, which can greatly affect the experience.

Remember that not all countries play hockey year-long, and you won’t be staying too much at the hotels, so do not target 5-star or even 4-star resorts. Anyway, most 3-star hotels in Europe are excellent and affordable. Of course, staying out of a city’s “hot spot” is cheaper, but it doesn’t matter much since the bus and subway systems are much more developed and affordable than here.

4- Fundraising

Most of the time, your team must consider fundraising for at least half the total price. While not a favorite part of the preparation, it’s still necessary since nobody wants to cut on the quality of a once-in-a-lifetime tour. That is why you must find original and fun ways to make everybody participate.

The easiest way is sponsorship, but you must knock on many doors to find substantial money. Seeing traditional ways I will not start to enumerate here is more realistic. Give yourself time since you need many ideas to find the best activities.

5- Final preparations

An important part of the final preparations is to schedule regular meetings with everybody to ensure they do not forget anything. Unexpected things can and WILL happen during a tour, and it’s better to be fully prepared for every surprise that may pop up on-site. The biggest issue is probably insurance.

While it’s important to prioritize this detail, finding good insurance is also fairly easy. Many options are, in most cases, very affordable and complete. Since their jobs or own insurance already covers some people, it’s better to ensure people have their protections and bring documents on board.

If you are traveling without a guide (not recommended), you should insist on having all kinds of required and useful papers in a binder kept by the agency consultant or a trustworthy person. These should include allergy notices, medical notices, insurance coverages, passport photocopies, detailed contact numbers for every passenger, all the contact information for the various destinations, plane ticket copies, etc.

Also, make sure that everybody has some local money on them at the time of departure but not too much since nobody wants to be stolen a large amount of cash if that should happen. Everybody should know the current ratio of the Canadian dollar vs. the Euro (or if going to an independent currency country). Check out oanda.com to have a real-time converter.

6- On-site

Again, if you have a guide traveling with the team, it should be easy to go around without encountering too many problems. If some issues arise, the focus is to take care of everything and arrange every aspect of the trip to accommodate the groups. But remember that it is IMPOSSIBLE to please everybody simultaneously, so the group must know there will be compromises. Those will usually be minor details, but there are also some rare times when the team must make a tough decision. Fortunately, the chances are that the guide will find the best solution using his own experience.

A typical day on tour follows the same path: visits or guided tours in the morning, free time and suggested visits in the afternoon, the game in the evening, and free time in the evening. On a travel day between two locations, the guide will probably schedule stops along the way to include interesting visits while splitting the road time. Again, it would help if you did not spend too much time on the road.

Visits included in the itinerary should always be covered by the agency, and all meals should consist of breakfast, the most important meal of the day; the hotel choice should be largely based on the quality of food provided. A breakfast buffet is always a winner since you can find things for all tastes. Your guide will probably have scheduled some typical food for the other meal and leave the other to you. This way, you can experience the diversity of culinary culture and eat what you prefer to be fully refreshed each day.

Security should be a very important part of the planning. As I told you earlier, nobody should have too much cash on them. Also, make sure that the money is well hidden and not easily spottable on you. This applies especially to handbags since they are pretty easy to steal, and some thieves in Europe specialize in that kind of business, just like anywhere else. You should not bring a conventional wallet or handbag; instead, you should use safe devices like hidden pockets and belts.

Another important detail for security is to be aware of the basic local laws and traditions. Some countries will not accept things that seem pretty okay here. Always ensure there are some adults with kids, and do not trust your child to act like an adult by himself; he is NOT. The parents should work as respectfully as the locals as they want them to be with their kids. This will not ruin the trip since there are many ways to enjoy the tour without messing around.

It would be advised to design one traveler to take as many pictures and videos as possible since it will be appreciated and useful if somebody loses his equipment. Most people want to make a souvenir CD or DVD when returning home.

Finally, ALWAYS listen to your guide and the local guides who will join you during the tour. They will not say anything if it is not useful, so pay close attention to what they say and do not hesitate to ask questions.

7- The aftermath

You will probably have a lot of memories to bring back home and will become nostalgic for the time when you were in the old countries. So, it would be a great idea to throw in a celebration some weeks after the trip with the whole group, where you can exchange thoughts and pictures about the trip. A report meeting should also be held to conclude the finances and things to correct if you plan on having another trip.

To conclude, every hockey player from 7 to 77 years old has thought of having a memorable experience playing hockey in Europe. Even if it can seem fairly easy to organize, the truth is that it’s much more complicated than planned if you do not deal with some true specialists. Take your time to choose the destinations and all the options your group needs before moving forward. Every detail should be prepared, and everybody should be ready to deal with all the unexpected issues.