By Adam Collins. Published October 2026. Updated when either federation changes the rule.
In both countries, body checking starts in the first year of the division after 12U and U13. Before that, players learn body contact, and a check in a game is a penalty. Here are the rules on each side of the border, when they changed, where non-checking hockey continues past that age, and what the research found when leagues took checking out.
USA Hockey: checking starts at 14U
USA Hockey allows legal body checking in games at 14U and above. At 12U and below, the standard is body contact: players learn to win the puck through skating, angling and positioning, but they can’t body check in games. USA Hockey’s manager of player safety, Kevin Margarucci, put it plainly: “body checking is not allowed at the 12U level in games.”
The line moved in 2011. USA Hockey’s Board of Directors voted in June 2011 to prohibit full body checking at Pee Wee, now 12U, starting with the 2011-12 season. The vote passed with 88% approval. The same package prohibited any check to the head or neck at every level of amateur hockey in the US.
Sources: USA Hockey, “Playing it safe” · Minnesota Hockey, “Can We Still Hit?”, Sept. 30, 2019 · United States of Hockey, June 13, 2011
Hockey Canada: checking starts at U15
Hockey Canada says players in contact leagues move to body-checking hockey at U15. All games at U13 and below are non-body-checking, a rule Hockey Canada announced in 2013. Hockey Canada’s rules don’t allow body checking in female hockey at any level (Rule 7.3).
The Canadian Paediatric Society goes further than the rule. It recommends no body checking at any age in recreational hockey, and none before age 15 in competitive leagues. That’s the doctors’ position, not Hockey Canada’s.
Sources: Hockey Canada, FAQ for hockey parents · Hockey Canada Playing Rules, Rule 7.3 · Canadian Paediatric Society, updated Jan. 2023
Where non-checking hockey continues
U15 and U18 don’t have to mean checking. Whether a non-checking option exists depends on the province or state, the association and how many players it has. Two examples:
Where | Non-checking | Since |
|---|---|---|
Alberta, U15 | Tiers 4 to 6 (U15 AAA, AA and Tiers 1 to 3 still check) | 2020-21 |
Alberta, U18 | Tiers 4 to 6 | 2022-23 |
Saskatoon, U15 | U15 C stays non-checking. U15 B became a checking tier to stay eligible for Hockey Saskatchewan provincial play. The change doesn’t apply to U18 B. | 2026-27 change |
In the US, non-checking teams at 14U and above are set by each league and affiliate, not by a national rule. Ask your association what it runs.
Two Canadian studies, checking versus no checking
Who | What they found |
|---|---|
Ages 11 and 12, non-elite, 2011-12 season | Players in Alberta, where checking was allowed, had 2.97 times the game injury rate and 2.83 times the concussion rate of players in Ontario, where it wasn’t. Among elite players, where both provinces allowed checking, the rates didn’t differ significantly. |
Ages 15 to 17, non-elite, 2015 to 2018 | Players in non-checking leagues in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver had 67% fewer game injuries and 59% fewer game concussions than players in checking leagues, after adjustment. The raw injury rates were 2.65 per 1,000 game hours, against 8.17. |
Both studies measured the effect of removing checking in non-elite hockey. Neither tells you what checking does at AAA, where it stays.
Sources: Black et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine · Emery et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine
Questions to ask the association:
Which teams at this age check, and which don’t?
Is there a body-contact or checking clinic before tryouts, and who runs it?
If a player moves from a non-checking tier to a checking one, how does the club handle that first season?
Whether a particular player is ready is a judgment, not a rule. That’s in the Double Shift: Issue 4, Sept. 10, 2026.
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