How much does youth hockey cost in Delaware?
2026-2027 season estimates • Updated October 2026 • Built from published program fees and family reports
All-in season cost by level
This is the full season, not just registration. Ice, travel, tournaments, and equipment usually add up to more than the sign-up fee.
| Level | Estimated 12U season cost |
|---|---|
House C | $3,100 – $6,400 |
B | $3,700 – $7,800 |
A | $6,300 – $13,200 |
AA | $7,700 – $15,200 |
How the levels work here
This table tops out at AA because no Delaware club has a rated AAA team. AHF flight names rank inside a letter, not as levels of their own: Gretzky and Lemieux at A, McDavid at B. The DVHL's National and American brackets work the same way. This page prices all of them with the letter. Scholastic hockey is separate and is not priced here. The Delaware High School Hockey League fields teams from schools above and below the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal.
Where the money goes
A typical 12U A season in Delaware, about $9,700. Follows the age picked above.
Assumes 3 tournaments, each a 2 to 6 hour drive with 2 hotel nights, two parents and a sibling travelling.
- Tournament travel$3,52036%
- Registration$2,90030%
- Development$1,20012%
- Equipment$7007%
How does your season compare?
Add your own costs from last season, any club, any level, to get a full breakdown to budget this season.
Get my breakdownCosts added by real families
Hidden costs
- Both Delaware seasons families have reported landed above the row they sit on.
- A 10U B season at the Delaware Ducks totalled $8,874, of which $3,060 was tournament travel against $2,693 of registration, so the travel line was larger than the sign-up fee.
- That same report also carried $678 of development, $665 of rink life and $587 of equipment.
- An 8U B season at the same club came to $3,895, with $1,375 of it registration.
- The site's model allows $614 for local travel at every Delaware level and every age, from House through AA, which at House 8U is most of the way to the $750 registration figure beside it.
- Tuition is not the whole bill even at the rec rung, and Wilmington Nighthawks state that USA Hockey registration costs extra on top of theirs.
- Several Delaware teams carry two league labels at once, with Jr. Blue Hens and Nighthawks teams entered in EJEPL divisions alongside their DVHL ones, so ask what the second league's road weekends cost before you sign.
Savings tips
- Patriot Ice Center in Newark, home of the Delaware Ducks, runs three entry programs with gear attached.
- Its Little Ducks Learn to Play Hockey Rookie Program is open to ages 9 and up and includes free gear for first-time players with registration.
- The Flyers Rookie Program there takes ages 4 to 9 and includes free head to toe equipment, and Take A Shot At Hockey is free with gear included.
- In each case the player keeps the equipment on enrolling in the following Learn to Play Hockey program, so use one of them before buying a set.
- Wilmington Nighthawks publish their recreational tuition, so the rec rung can be priced before you commit: $650 at 7U, $750 at 8U and $1,625 at 10U, jersey included and USA Hockey registration extra.
- The Nighthawks also apply a sibling discount at checkout and offer payment plans at registration, so ask any Delaware club the same.
- Add your season here: 2 Delaware cost reports so far, and a program is verified at five.
Hockey in Delaware
Your child's team will have a letter: B, A or AA. That letter sets most of the cost, so find it in the table above. The rated teams run B and A from 10U to 16U, and AA at 11U, 12U, 13U, 16U and 18U. The table is our estimate of a full season.
More about Delaware hockey
Delaware has no hockey affiliate of its own. Its clubs register through the Atlantic Amateur Hockey Association (AAHA). That is the USA Hockey affiliate Delaware shares with New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. The leagues its teams play in are regional rather than Delaware-only.
Three clubs account for all 22 rated Delaware teams in our data. The Delaware Ducks are a Tier II travel program for 8U through 18U. They are based at the Patriot Ice Center at 101 John F. Campbell Drive in Newark. All nine of their rated teams play in the Atlantic Hockey Federation (AHF). Its A and B divisions carry the flight names Gretzky, Lemieux and McDavid. The Delaware Jr. Blue Hens are the University of Delaware's travel program. The university lists them as competing in the Delaware Valley Hockey League (DVHL) from September to March. It also runs its own Learn to Play Hockey, a cross-ice program for players 9 and under. There is an in-house league for ages 10 to 14 as well. The Wilmington Nighthawks skate out of the Skating Club of Wilmington at 1301 Carruthers Lane. They run USA Hockey Tier II travel teams from 6U to 18U in the DVHL, and can add EJEPL play. They also have recreational and scholastic teams.
Hockey programs in Delaware
Season cost estimates and family-reported costs for 3 programs.
See costs for another area
Learn more
Youth hockey cost 2026: $3,000 to $23,100 a season, by state
State-by-state cost breakdown for 2026
Hockey cost by level: House $3,000 to AAA $23,100 (2026)
Detailed level-by-level cost comparison
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