How much does youth hockey cost in Illinois?

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.

LevelEstimated 12U season cost
House
C
$2,900 – $6,200
C3
C2 / C1 / B3 / B / B2 / A3
$4,400 – $7,900
B1
A2
$5,300 – $10,100
A
A1
$5,500 – $11,500
AA
$10,100 – $16,200
AAA
$13,300 – $26,300

How the levels work here

The numbered rows (A1 to A3, B1 to B3, C1 to C3) come from the MoAm divisions. Decatur Flames, Southern Illinois Ice Hawks, Springfield Kings and Twin Bridges Lightning play there, and those divisions are numbered instead of lettered. Chicago-area teams are AAA, AA, A, B or house. The CSDHL's Red, Blue and White flights and the NWHL's groups rank within a letter. They are not levels of their own.

Where the money goes

A typical 12U A season in Illinois, about $8,500. 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$3,42040%
  • Registration$1,80021%
  • Development$1,20014%
  • Equipment$7008%
Estimated from published Illinois program fees and family reports

House in Illinois runs 5% below the national average.

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.

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Costs added by real families

Hidden costs

  • Illinois AAA clubs run priced spring programs on top of the winter season.
  • Chicago Mission's spring program is $865 for 9U to 14U over six weeks and $995 for midgets over seven weeks, plus $250 per tournament.
  • Chicago Phantoms charge $595 at 8U to 10U, $750 at 11U to 14U and $795 at 15U to 18U, plus a $225 spring tournament.
  • Tier I clubs field 13 Only and 15 Only teams alongside the even ages, so ask which team your birth year lands on before you compare fees.

Savings tips

  • Chicago has free hockey programs.
  • AHAI's Hockey Is For Everyone, formerly the AHAI Diversity Program, puts more than 200 athletes a year on the ice at no cost to players or their families, with full equipment, ice time, USA Hockey registration and instruction from a volunteer coaching staff, supported by Chicago Blackhawk Charities, AHAI, the NHL and private donors.
  • Hockey On Your Block, run by the Chicago Youth Foundation, is a free youth hockey program providing weekly ice time, full equipment, games against other youth teams and USA Hockey certified coaching.
  • The Chicago Hockey Initiative awards microgrants to under-resourced Chicago-area K-12 student-athletes toward equipment, ice time, league fees and instruction, applied for with a PDF form on its site.
  • Southern Illinois Ice Hawks families complete a financial aid application and email it only to the club treasurer, which keeps the request private.
See financial assistance for Illinois families

Hockey in Illinois

Your child's team will have a letter: AAA, AA, A, B or house. That letter is the row to read in the table above. Chicago-area families go by the USA Hockey letter, even though AHAI organizes youth hockey into Tier I, Tier II and Tier III. Most Tier II travel teams schedule through the CSDHL. It runs an AA flight at every age from 9U to 18U, plus Red, Blue and White flights numbered 1 to 3. Those color flights rank within a letter. They are not levels of their own. The NWHL (Northwest Hockey League) is the Tier III B travel league. The numbered rows in the table (A1 to A3, B1 to B3, C1 to C3) come from the MoAm divisions some clubs play in. The table is our estimate of a full season. There are 27 Illinois reports on the site.

More about Illinois hockey

Full-season AAA is real here. Chicago Mission and Team Illinois both ice AAA teams at 9U through 18U for boys, and at 12U, 14U, 16U and 19U for girls. Chicago Fury (Orland Park) plays AAA in the T1EHL and Chicago Phantoms (Woodridge) in the THF. Illinois has 82 programs on the site. Among them are Glenview Stars, Highland Park Falcons, Northwest Chargers (Mount Prospect), Crystal Lake Yellowjackets, Naperville Sabres, Chicago Hawks (Darien), Geneva Cyclones and Orland Park Vikings. Others are Joliet Jaguars, Rockford Roadrunners, Peoria Jr. Mustangs, Bloomington Thunder, Springfield Kings, Twin Bridges Lightning (Granite City) and Southern Illinois Ice Hawks (O'Fallon).

Illinois hockey answers to AHAI, the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois, the state's only USA Hockey affiliate, founded in 1975.

Hockey programs in Illinois

Season cost estimates and family-reported costs for 73 programs.

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See the best value teams in Illinois

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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

20 hockey scholarships and grants most families don't know about

Financial assistance programs for hockey families