Results from Past Seasons
2023 (Summer, Fall)
2022 (Summer, Fall)
2021 (Fall)
2020-2021 (COVID: Didn't play for a while)
2018-2019 (Fall, Spring)
2017-2018 (Fall, Winter, Spring)
2016-2017 (Fall, Winter, Spring)
2015-2016 (Fall, Winter, Spring)
2014-2015 (Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring)

Trying to join a team? We're pretty good about responding to new inquiries, so if you've emailed UVFH about playing but haven't heard back after a few days, then please call or text 978-335-8428. Our spam filter probably deleted your email by mistake. (Likewise, check your spam for our reply; sometimes that happens, too.)


UVFH was featured in the winter 2017-2018 issue of Image magazine!
This was back when we played indoors.
Read the article here
Thanks to Our Sponsors
Become a league sponsor of
Upper Valley Floor Hockey!
For details, write to: play@uvfloorhockey.com

About UVFH

Upper Valley Floor Hockey is a coed, recreational outdoor floor hockey league for adults in New Hampshire and Vermont's Upper Valley. Our aim is to bring the game of floor hockey to the area in a way that is competitive, safe, and fun for everyone.

We used to play in the third-floor gym of the CCBA Witherell Recreation Center, but moved to an excellent new outdoor facility (also in Lebanon, NH) for our post-pandemic restart. You can form your own team, or we can try to find a space on an existing one. Just write to play@uvfloorhockey.com.

Game Shirts

The first time you play in the league, you'll get a game shirt at no extra cost. If you wear it out, change teams, or just decide that you'd like to have an extra one so you don't have to do laundry as often, you can buy additional ones for $10 each.

To purchase an extra game shirt, write to play@uvfloorhockey.com and include the color and size you need. We do keep a small inventory of shirts, but if we don't have your color/size combination, we'll get it in the next order we place with our local t-shirt maker.

FAQ & RULES

  1. Why do you call it "floor hockey"?
    We call it floor hockey because when we started this league way back in 2014, we played indoors on a gym floor, and floor hockey is the traditional name for that form of the sport. However, things changed after COVID, and now we play outdoors on a plastic multi-sport tile surface. We could start referring to it as "street hockey" to be slightly more accurate, but we already have the website and logos and so forth already made up, so we've just kept our original name.
  2. What are the main rules?
    Player safety and fun are of utmost importance in this league. Do not think of this as "ice hockey on sneakers"—this is a different sport and we have our own rules. There is no rough body contact allowed, no slapshots, and no stick lifting or stick trapping. Keep your stick blade below your waist at all times, even when the ball isn't near you. Do not raise your stick above your waist to knock down a ball, signal a pass, or to go up-and-over the head of another player. All of these things will result in a two-minute high-sticking penalty. Play a finesse game, not a physical game, and keep your body and stick under control at all times. Don't be bumping into players or creating body contact. This is a fast-paced game, so there is plenty of opportunity to run around and be competitive without putting yourself in a position where you are going to hit the ground hard or cause someone else to do so.
  3. What are some other basic rules governing game flow, etc.?
    We do not call icing and we do not call offsides. Hand passes will be blown dead if the ball goes to a teammate, regardless of where it occurs on the court, but it is not a penalty. Teams may substitute on the fly. Please do not interfere with goalies. Players are expected to exhibit class and sportsmanship at all times. Failure to do so may result in suspension or expulsion from the league. You may use your feet to stop, control, and even kick the ball on the floor, but you may not kick the ball into the goal. If the ball goes into the goal via a kick ("distinct kicking motion"), it will be disallowed, but if it incidentally bounces off of your foot and goes in, the goal will be allowed. If the ball goes into the goal directly off of a referee, then it will be disallowed.
  4. What kind of equipment do I need?
    You'll need a hockey stick, eye protection, and shin guards. Any type of stick blade is fine (e.g., plastic, wood, carbon). Eyewear and shin pads are MANDATORY. Any type of eyewear is acceptable. You can get a pair of sports safety glasses at Walmart for about $8 dollars that will work well. For shin pads, most people wear soccer shin pads, but you can also wear the big ice hockey ones if you want. Everything else (e.g., mouthguard, gloves) is optional. Many people wear lightweight half-finger gloves for better grip. You may wear hockey gloves if you want, but remember that this does NOT give you license to stick check up high near other players' bare hands. If you get too wild with your stick on other peoples' sticks, you'll be given a two-minute penalty for slashing.
  5. What kind of equipment do goalies need?
    Goalies are encouraged to wear either street hockey goalie pads or ice hockey goalie pads. The essentials are: helmet, chest protector, leg pads, goalie stick, blocker, and glove. Other things like elbow pads, shoulder pads, and padded pants are optional. Some goalies in our league wear a lot of protective gear, and other goalies wear less. More is not necessarily better, as you'll probably get hot and it will restrict your movement. It is quite normal to see improvised goalie outfits that include baseball gloves, etc. There is some extra goalie equipment at the facility that any team may use in a pinch, but there are no guarantees as to what is there and whether it will be available on a given night. Teams are welcome to use it when needed, but try not to rely on it every single week.
  6. Ball or puck?
    Ball. Specifically, the nice low-bounce street hockey balls from Winnwell. We use the orange ones in the summer and the yellow ones in the fall. (By the way, we will put out extra balls to warm up with before the game. Please do not bring your own; it just adds unnecessary confusion when we go to collect them after warmups.)
  7. Is there a referee?
    Yes, all games are officiated by a referee. Please be courteous and respectful to the referee, and exhibit good sportsmanship. The referee has broad discretion to make any call and take any reasonable action that is in the interest of keeping the environment safe and under control, and to ensure player safety. Our referees do their best to be fair and accurate, but they are not professionals. Please keep this context in mind if you believe that a referee has made a mistake on a call or a rule interpretation. If you have a minor question for a referee, find a time during halftime, a timeout, or after the game, to have a civil discussion. If you have a major problem with a referee, please bring it to the attention of the league commissioner (play@uvfloorhockey.com).
  8. What do we do for uniforms?
    The first time you join a team, you will receive a t-shirt in your team color to serve as your uniform. Please wear it to your games. If you want an extra shirt or if you switch teams and need a shirt of a new color, you can buy additional ones for $10. For about the first two weeks of any season, we'll bring our full inventory of shirts. After that, if you need a shirt, email play@uvfloorhockey.com in advance. Sometimes we run out of a particular size/color combination, but we place a new order with our local t-shirt maker almost every season, so let us know what you need. (For drop-in sessions in the offseasons, you don't need to wear your game shirt. Pinnies are provided.)
  9. What's the basic game format?
    Games consist of two, 25-minute running time halves, separated by a brief halftime. Since we are renting the facility in hour-long blocks of time, games need to begin and end on time. Regular game play consists of 4-on-4 out on the floor, plus a goalie for each team. Normal play is two men and two women per side, plus goalies. Technically, the coed requirement for normal play is that no more than two of the four people out on the floor per team may be men (except in the case of "pulling" one's goalie, in which you can send another guy out onto the floor). (If your team is short on men on a given night but has plenty of women, you may play three women on the floor and one man, or even four women and no men.)
  10. If we have a female goalie, can we play three men out on the floor?
    No. You still need to have two women and two men on the floor, per the above rule.
  11. Is there a minimum number of players we need to play?
    The minimum number of people you may play a legal game with is three (one goalie and two floor players). If you do not have at least that many people, then you must forfeit.
  12. Can we borrow players if we are short on people?
    No, not if you want to play a legal game. If you have so few players that you cannot—or do not wish to—play a legal game, then you may forfeit and just play a scrimmage for fun. At that point, you can mix your players with the other team or borrow people from a previous game in order to make two teams. The scrimmage will not count as a game. If you are forfeiting, you must notify the referee and the opposing captain as soon as possible. Forfeits are not good for the league and they aren't considerate to the opposing team who is expecting a competitive game, so please make every effort you can to field a full team each week.
  13. We have plenty of players present, but no goalie. Can we borrow another team's goalie?
    No, not if you want to play a legal game. If your goalie is unavailable and you do not wish to forfeit, then someone else on your team needs to volunteer to play goalie. We almost always have two sets of extra goalie equipment that we bring to the rink each week or keep in the onsite storage unit.
  14. If it's a close game, can we pull our goalie?
    Yes. And when your goalie goes off the floor, you can replace him or her with a player of any sex. For safety reasons, if you pull your goalie and one of your "unprotected" players retreats back to the goal area to guard the goal, that player may NOT cover the ball in order to get a dead ball stoppage the way a regular goalie can. It's just too dangerous, and we cannot allow an unprotected player to grab the ball, pounce on it, or trap it with his or her foot the way a regular goalie would. If this is done, a two-minute penalty will be called.
  15. How exactly do penalties work?
    All penalties are two minutes and run concurrently with the game clock. Penalties do carry over across half-time if they occur in the final part of the first half. When a penalty is given, the penalized team is down a player of whichever gender committed the penalty (i.e., if a woman gets a penalty, the team plays with one woman and two men; and if a man gets a penalty, the team plays with one man and two women). It is possible to have two players serving penalties at the same time (e.g., a team can be down two players). Penalties are nullified either when the penalty time runs out or if the other team scores during the power play.
  16. Does the clock ever stop?
    We do running time, but there are some occasions when the clock can be stopped. If an injury occurs that requires a lengthy stoppage (for instance, someone needs to be attended to on the court), then the referee will stop the clock. Also, in the closing minute of a game, if the score is within one goal, then the game will switch from running time to stopped time (i.e., the clock will be stopped when the ball goes out of play, is covered by a goalie, etc.)
  17. How are teams formed and managed?
    Teams are in charge of recruiting their own players and managing their own rosters. The league does not manage teams centrally. When new individuals who are interested in playing contact the league, we'll inquire with the captains to see which teams, if any, are looking to add players and we'll help make matches. We usually have a small waitlist. If the waitlist gets sufficiently large to form a new team and there is room for another team, then we will attempt to do so. Each team gets to decide how many players it wants. We recommend about 10 to 12 people, depending on how much playing time people prefer. If you are forming a team, remember that you need to have a goalie and you want to have enough men and women on your team so that you don't have to play shorthanded if for whatever reason some of your players can't make it on a given week. Don't forget that people occasionally get sick, travel for work, go on vacations, or have schedule conflicts. Maintain good communication with your team so you don't have unexpected no-shows. Recruiting people based on reliability and team cohesion usually gets you a better result than recruiting based solely on skill!
  18. Can we add a player to our roster just for the playoffs?
    Of course not! For a player to be eligible to play in the playoffs, he or she must play in at least three of his or her team's regular season games. Having a "part-time" player on your roster is fine, and if they play in enough regular season games then they are welcome in the playoffs.
  19. Can I play on more than one team?
    Sorry, no. Players may only play on one team at a time. To allow otherwise would only create problems and confusion. You may switch teams once in a season if you decide that you'd rather play for another team or for some reason you aren't getting along with your current teammates, captains, or whomever, but you may not play on multiple teams at the same time. If you want to switch teams, it's up to you to work it out with the captains of the teams involved. The league commissioner can help put you in touch with the various captains via email, but we do not want to get involved in team personnel matters.
  20. What is the tiebreaker rubric for determining playoff seeding?
    If two or more teams are tied for points at the end of the season, the following tiebreaker criteria are applied, in order: 1) any team that has forfeited during the regular season is automatically seeded lower, 2) head-to-head records, 3) number of wins, 4) records against common opponents starting with highest-placing teams, 5) coin toss in the presence of the team captains (or agreed-upon proxies).
  21. In playoff games, how are ties broken?
    Unlike regular season games, playoff games cannot end in a tie. In the event of a tie at the end of regulation time, the teams will get a very brief break and then play a five-minute "sudden death" overtime period. If the game is still tied, then the teams move to a shootout. The shootout proceeds NHL-style. Four shooters from each team (male, female, male, female) are selected to shoot against the opposing goalie, breakaway-style. If one team scores more than the other in this first group, then that team wins. After this first group, the shootout proceeds one pair of shooters at a time through the remaining players (with each team alternating males and females) until one team scores and the other does not. Every active player on a team must shoot before any player on that team may shoot for a second time, unless a female needs to shoot for a second time in order to satisfy the alternating sex requirement.
  22. Is there an age minimum or an age limit?
    Adults of all ages (18+) are welcome to play. We have people in their 20s through early 60s playing in this league, and we consider that a point of pride. Please be aware that floor hockey is a fast-paced, strenuous physical activity. You do need to have reasonably good mobility. Even though the league is designed to be non-contact in nature, you need to be able to withstand an accidental bump, slip, or fall, should any one of those things happen. If you aren't sure whether this activity is right for you, please consult your doctor.
  23. Do I need hockey experience to play?
    No. This is an adult recreational league. It is designed to have a broad appeal across all skill levels, not to be something just for hockey players. If you are looking for something active but are relatively new to floor hockey or it's been decades since you played as a kid, then this will likely be a good league for you. Having some experience with a stick (e.g., field hockey, lacrosse) will benefit you, but it's possible to pick it up quickly. Note that if you are a highly experienced former ice hockey player who is used to playing a very rough game with flying elbows and body checking, then this league may not be right for you. You are certainly still welcome to play, but you MUST understand the rules of the league and adjust your style of play accordingly. Many former ice hockey players find it initially challenging to break out of certain ice hockey habits, but are eventually able to do so.
  24. I'm a player who is unhappy with my team, or a captain who is unhappy with a player. What can I do?
    The vast majority of issues relating to rosters and personnel should be dealt with as an internal team matter. Although the league reserves the right to ban or suspend any player who behaves in a dangerous or unsportsmanlike way, it is generally NOT the responsibility of the league to get involved in and settle most off-the-court matters. If you are a player and you are unhappy with your team, your options are to: a) ask the captains of other teams if they will take you on their team, or b) not play. The league commissioner may be able to help you get in touch with the other teams, but it is not the league's responsibility or obligation to find a spot for you. If you are a captain and you are unhappy with a player, you may drop that player. You do not need permission from the league to drop a player, but if you do it, it should be done with adequate communication between you and the player, and for good measure you may want to consider refunding some portion of the player's money that he or she paid (although again, it is up to you). Captains are responsible for their teams, therefore captains have final say over their rosters. If a captain accepts a player off of the free agent list but only intends to keep that player temporarily (e.g., for one season) or on some sort of "trial" basis, then out of common decency that should be made clear to the new player. Finally, although captains are entrusted with a lot of power (since they can drop players), there is an important check on that power: namely, if the majority of a team feels that their captain has treated people unfairly, then those players can ask the league to consider removing that captain. In that case, the league may "reclaim" a color/team. (Captains do run their teams, but they do not own teams in any real property rights sense.)
  25. How much does it cost to play?
    The team fee goes up or down proportionally depending on how many teams we have, because the more teams we have, the longer the season is. We do team fees instead of individual fees so that teams can decide for themselves how many people they want on their roster, and thus control how they divide their team fee. The earlier we get confirmation from team captains regarding their participation for an upcoming season, the earlier we can announce to everyone the season structure.
  26. What does the team fee go towards?
    The vast majority of the team fee goes to running the league, including facility rental, insurance, referees, equipment such as nets and balls, foam barriers, t-shirts, first-aid supplies, advertising in order to recruit players, the website, occasional social events, and other assorted expenses. We try really hard to keep it so that each person on an average-sized team (i.e., 10-12 players) ends up paying no more than about $7-$8 per game in order to play in this league. When you compare it to other recreational activities such as exercise classes, yoga, going to the movies, and so on, we think it is a REALLY good deal!
  27. Who runs this league—CCBA? New England Sports Park? Someone else?
    Upper Valley Floor Hockey is an independent entity that rents the playing space, organizes the league, and runs the show. It is not run by the CCBA or New England Sports Park. The surface we play on is owned by New England Sports Park, and the general grounds are owned by the CCBA. Please be respectful of the facility, courteous to everyone you encounter, and don't leave behind belongings or trash. Bad conduct by any UVFH player or spectator directed at the facility or its employees could jeopardize the league, and is therefore taken EXTREMELY seriously.
  28. Are spectators allowed?
    Spectators are welcome, but you'll have to find a safe place to stand or sit. Spectators should stay alert at all times, as balls may sail out of bounds without warning. Please be especially careful and understand the risks involved if you decide to bring children to watch a game.
  29. When does it start?
    We used to have three seasons (fall, winter, and spring) when we played indoors. Our "new normal" is one SUMMER season that runs from June to August, followed by one FALL season that runs from August to November.
  30. I want to play! What do I do?
    We are always welcoming new players, and no, you do not need to put together a whole team in order to sign up. To indicate your interest, write to: play@uvfloorhockey.com. You can ask to sign up as an individual and we will get in touch with the captains and try to place you on a team. Or if you have a bunch of friends who all want to play, we can see if creating a new team is possible. If we are already in the middle of a season and it is too late to add you to a current team, then we can add you to the waitlist and will get in touch with you before the beginning of the next season.