More Than Water: A Real Talk Guide to Hydration for Youth Hockey Players
What Hydration Actually Does for an Athlete
To put it simply: hydration keeps your body running, your brain sharp, and your muscles ready; without it, everything gets harder, no matter how well you eat or how much you have trained.
Hydration is one of the most powerful and overlooked tools a young athlete can use to support their performance, recovery, and long-term growth. While food gets most of the attention in sports nutrition, water is what makes every system in the body work. From joint support to brain function to muscle recovery, staying hydrated plays a foundational role in how an athlete feels, thinks, and performs.
Proper hydration enhances energy levels, keeps muscles and joints moving fluidly, and improves mental clarity. It even supports skin, fascia, and overall tissue health; things most athletes don’t think about until they’re dealing with tightness, inflammation, or fatigue. On the flip side, when athletes are even slightly dehydrated, everything becomes harder. According to research on elite athletes, even mild dehydration can reduce endurance, strength, and cognitive function; especially in growing bodies that are still learning how to self-regulate.
At Raw Form Fuel, we believe hydration is fuel; not an afterthought. That’s why we encourage all athletes to treat it like a daily habit, not just something you think about on game day. Supporting hydration throughout the week gives athletes a serious edge: stronger practices, better recovery, sharper thinking, and fewer unnecessary injuries.
Signs of Underhydration (That Aren’t Always Obvious)
Here’s the reality: many youth athletes are walking into practices and games already underhydrated; and they don’t even realize it.
Dehydration doesn’t always show up as thirst. Sometimes it looks like brain fog during drills, unusually low energy in the third period, muscle cramps that keep coming back, or a short temper that seems out of character. According to studies on collegiate athletes, underhydration can stress the cardiovascular system and increase the risk of musculoskeletal injury; meaning your body is literally working harder just to function when you’re low on fluids.
And it’s not just the body; it’s the brain, too. Mild dehydration can impair attention, memory, and mood in both kids and adults. For youth athletes balancing school, sports, and social life, hydration doesn’t just support performance, it supports mental clarity, emotional regulation, and resilience.
Here are a few underhydration red flags to look out for:
Fatigue or burnout mid-practice
Muscle tightness or cramping
Trouble focusing or remembering plays
Headaches or mood swings
Dark yellow urine or low bathroom frequency
The good news? Hydration is one of the easiest performance tools to fix, once you know what to look for. The goal isn’t perfection, but consistency. Helping athletes build awareness around how they feel before and after they hydrate is the first step in making hydration an automatic, empowering part of their daily routine.
Real Life Tools to Build Hydration Habits
Put it simply: Hydration is a daily habit that works best when it feels normal, not forced. The earlier athletes build these patterns, the easier it becomes to fuel their performance, protect their bodies, and show up strong; every time they lace up.
Now that we know hydration impacts nearly everything, from performance and recovery to mood and focus, the next step is helping athletes make it part of their everyday routine. And here’s the good news: it doesn’t take fancy products or strict rules. It just takes a few consistent, intentional habits.
According to USA Hockey, athletes should aim to drink ½ to 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight per day; and even more around activity. That means a 100-pound athlete may need anywhere from 50 to 100 ounces per day, depending on age, intensity, sweat loss, and climate. Sounds like a lot? Don’t worry, it’s not about perfection, it’s about building a rhythm.
Here are simple ways to start:
1. Start the Day With Water
Encourage athletes to drink at least 16 ounces of water first thing in the morning. After hours of sleep, the body is already in a mild state of dehydration — and rehydrating early supports energy, digestion, and mental clarity for the day ahead.
Add a squeeze of lemon or frozen berries to the water if they don’t like straight water when they get up.
Get them to create a habit of going to bed with a glass of water on their nightstand, so when they wake up it’s right there.
2. Build a Pre-Game/Training Routine
Hydration should start way before athletes hit the ice. Here are some recommended time frames:
1–2 hours before activity: 17–20 oz
Immediately before activity: 7–10 oz
This helps delay fatigue, supports better thermoregulation, and primes muscles for performance.
3. Hydrate During Practice (Even When They Forget)
Youth athletes often forget to drink during practice. Coaches, incorporate hydration into drills or break times, I even encouraging telling the players to bring their water bottles over while you explain the next drill. Parents and players, always remember a water bottle. If that is a reoccurring issue, set yourself up for success by carrying an “emergency” or “backup” water bottle in the car or sports bag.
Every 10–15 minutes: 7–10 oz of cold water is ideal
Cold fluids help delay the rise in body temperature and improve performance in high-intensity or long-duration activities.
4. Refuel After to Recover Strong
For every pound lost in sweat, athletes should aim to drink about 20 oz of fluid. While it’s not practical or encouraged to weigh before and after practice, you can still encourage post-practice hydration with cold water, smoothies, or electrolyte-rich options when needed.
One of the biggest issues I see after a hard practice or before a dry land is players drinking high-fructose corn syrup drinks (sodas). I am not here to say stop drinking those completely, but after practice or a game your body is begging you to replenish with the proper tools. Simply, after a training session or game you should be reaching for at least 16oz of water or electrolytes in order to replenish your body…drinking the soda or “fun drink” after giving your body what it needs.
5. Keep It Fun + Easy
Hydration doesn’t have to be boring:
Use fun reusable bottles they can personalize
Infuse water with fruit, cucumber, or mint
Try electrolyte popsicles on hot days or tournament weekends
Add electrolyte tabs or drinks during extra-long sessions; especially if your athlete is a heavy sweater
Lastly
Hydration isn’t just a detail; it’s a difference-maker. It has a strong influence on how young athletes think, move, feel, and recover. Starting at sharper focus in the classroom to stronger legs in the third period, staying hydrated supports the body and brain in every environment. It’s one of the most accessible, affordable, and effective tools for performance and health; and yet, it’s often the most overlooked. By building simple hydration habits early, athletes set the foundation for lasting energy, resilience, and strength from the inside out.
Citations
Judge LW, Bellar DM, Popp JK, Craig BW, Schoeff MA, Hoover DL, Fox B, Kistler BM, Al-Nawaiseh AM. Hydration to Maximize Performance and Recovery: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Among Collegiate Track and Field Throwers. J Hum Kinet. 2021 Jul 28;79:111-122. doi: 10.2478/hukin-2021-0065. PMID: 34400991; PMCID: PMC8336541.
Maughan RJ, Shirreffs SM. Hydration and physical performance. Nutr Rev. 2008;66(2):1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-4887.2007.00001.x
Nairn R. Sports and hydration for athletes: Q&A with a dietitian. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Published October 30, 2023. Available from: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/nutrition-and-fitness/sports-and-hydration-for-athletes
USA Hockey. Time to think about hydration differently. USA Hockey. Published January 11, 2018. Available from: https://www.usahockey.com/news_article/show/873261-time-to-think-about-hydration-differently
