How to set up a high school hockey team website

A high school hockey team website has one job: give families, fans and sponsors one link that answers where the team plays, when, and who is on the ice. Hockey makes that harder than most sports. Games are spread across rinks in different towns, ice time moves, and many programs draw players from more than one school.

This guide walks through setting one up in the order that matters at the start of a season: the basics, the schedule, tryouts and the roster, sponsors, and who keeps it current. The example throughout is the H.H. Dow High Chargers in Midland, Michigan, at dowhighhockey.mi.ourteamsports.com. A setup checklist is at the end.

Start with the basics

Before anything else, put these on the first screen:

• the team's full name, and every school it draws from if it is a co-op
• the home rink's name and street address
• the season, for example 2026–27
• one team email address that someone reads

The home rink matters more in hockey than in most sports. Visiting families often do not know the building, and some rinks have more than one sheet of ice. Name the rink, give the street address so it can be pasted into a map app, and say which sheet if it is not obvious. Dow's home page names its home rink, Midland Civic Arena, and gives the address with a link for directions.

The schedule

The schedule is why most people open the site. For every game, list:

• the date and start time
• the opponent
• home or away
• the rink's name and street address, including for away games

Away rinks are where families get lost, so the address matters most there. If varsity and JV share a site, label each game by level so nobody drives to the wrong one.

Practice times belong on the site too if families drive players. Hockey practices often land early in the morning or late in the evening, and they move when the rink reschedules ice. Update the site the same day a time changes, before or with the group text. A schedule that is wrong once teaches parents to check somewhere else.

Use the official schedule as the source

If your state association or league publishes the schedule, link to it, and keep your site matching it. In Michigan, the MHSAA posts each team's schedule. A site that copies from the official schedule by hand will drift. One that reads from it stays right.

Tryouts and the roster

Before the season, the most-asked question is when tryouts are. Put the dates, times, rink and what to bring on the site as soon as they are set, and say who to contact with questions. If tryouts run over several days, list each day.

Once the team is set, post the roster. Jersey number, name and class year are enough for a family in the stands to match a number to a name. Keep each season's roster separate, so last year's players are not mixed in with this year's.

Most high school players are minors. Leave off birthdays, phone numbers, addresses and anything else personal, and check your school's policy on student names and photos before posting either.

Sponsors

Hockey programs are expensive to run. Ice time, travel and equipment add up, and local businesses are often willing to help if the recognition is visible. A sponsor section with each business's name, logo and a link to its website is something they can point to.

Group sponsors into two or three named levels, say what the money pays for, and include a clear way for a new sponsor to get in touch. Dow's site lists sponsors in three levels and says the money funds ice time, travel, equipment and the program's golf outing. For what to offer and how to ask, see How to ask local businesses to sponsor your team.

Give every section an owner

Team sites go stale because nobody in particular owns them. Before the first game, pick one person for each part: schedule, roster, sponsors and events. On most teams these are parent volunteers, not coaches. Then have someone check the whole site once a week in season.

Make sure those people can make changes themselves. If moving a start time means emailing whoever built the site, it will not get moved.

That is the problem OurTeamSports was built for. It gives a team a website in its colors with schedule, roster, sponsor and event sections that coaches and parents update without a developer. Michigan teams can link their MHSAA schedule, and the site keeps games and scores in step with it. It started as the Chargers' own site, which is why the examples come from Dow.

Setup checklist

• The first screen names the team, every school in a co-op, the season and the home rink.
• The home rink has a street address and a directions link.
• Every game lists the date, start time, opponent, home or away, and the rink's address.
• Varsity and JV games are labeled if they share the site.
• Practice times are posted if families drive, and updated the day they change.
• The site matches the official schedule, or reads from it.
• Tryout dates, times, rink and what to bring are posted as soon as they are set.
• The roster shows jersey number, name and class year, one season at a time.
• Sponsors are listed by level, with what the money pays for and how to join.
• Each section has a named owner who can edit it, and someone checks the site weekly.