FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Click "Sign Up" in the header or go to /sign-up. Enter your email, choose a password, and verify your email with a one-time code. After verification, you land in your dashboard at /dashboard. There is no Google or Apple single-sign-on option at this time - email + password is the only sign-in method.

On the sign-in page at /login, click "Forgot password?" and enter your email. Clerk will send a password-reset link to your inbox. The link is valid for one hour. If you do not see the email, check your spam folder.

Open your dashboard and click the round avatar in the top-right corner (Clerk UserButton). From there you can change your first name, last name, email, password, and profile photo. These are managed by Clerk, our authentication provider - changes propagate within a few seconds.

Every RinkStop account has a public profile page at /profile/[username]. You choose your own username during sign-up (e.g., /profile/rinkstophelper). Other users can see your display name, avatar, bio, location, and membership tier. Tiers are shown as text pills (Free / Verified Identity / Identity Plus / Club Starter / Club Pro / Club Elite / League / Federation / Business Listing / Business Plus). An identity-verified checkmark - a navy-and-gold mark separate from your tier - means the account holder has verified their government ID through RinkStop. Founding Members get a special badge. You control what appears in your bio and location; avatar and name are set via the Clerk UserButton.

Usernames must be 1-30 characters, lowercase letters and numbers only (a-z, 0-9), with optional periods and underscores. Dashes, spaces, and special characters are not allowed. All usernames are case-insensitive - /profile/CoachSmith and /profile/coachsmith go to the same page. You can change your username once every 14 days; the old username is held for 14 days before becoming available again. A number of slugs are reserved: system routes (/admin, /dashboard, /login, etc.), brand terms (rinkstop, hockey, ice, rink, puck), and account-type words (team, league, player, coach, referee).

When you sign up, your username passes through three automated checks. Layer 1 validates the format (allowed characters, length, no reserved slugs). Layer 2 flags any username starting with a brand-protected prefix (e.g. rinkstop, kiloclaw) for human review - the account is created but the username is held until an admin approves or rejects it. Layer 3 checks against a profanity and inappropriate-word list; matches are either hard-blocked (clear slurs, auto-rejected with a polite message) or soft-queued (borderline terms, reviewed by an admin). You are notified by email once your username is decided. If you believe your username was rejected in error, contact support@rinkstop.com.

Go to /dashboard/profile. Bio and location are editable in the form on that page. First name, last name, email, and avatar are edited through the Clerk UserButton (the round avatar at the top-right of the dashboard).

Email support@rinkstop.com from the email address on your account and ask for account deletion. We will permanently remove your profile, saved favorites, reviews, claims, and connections within 5 business days. Your public profile page (/profile/username) will return 404 after deletion. Listings you claimed are released back to unclaimed status.

Identity verification (a government ID + selfie check) confirms that your RinkStop account belongs to a real person. It is separate from your membership tier. Once verified, your public profile shows a navy-and-gold checkmark, distinct from your tier pill. Identity verification is required to hold trusted roles on RinkStop — including coach, referee, scorekeeper, team manager, rink operator, and federation admin. The check is valid for two years before a re-verification is prompted. Verified Identity members and above can start the process at /dashboard/identity.

Verification is required to hold certain roles on RinkStop - including coach, referee, scorekeeper, team manager, rink operator, and federation admin - because those roles involve youth hockey, financial transactions, or organizational trust. Even when not required for a role, verification builds credibility: other users, league admins, and clients see the checkmark and know you are a real, identified person.

Check spam/junk. If still nothing, sign in at /login with your email and password - you can request a new code from the verification screen, or choose the "Email me a link" option instead. If both fail, contact support@rinkstop.com.

Ten tiers across three groups. Individuals: Free ($0) lets you browse. Verified Identity ($24.99/year) unlocks profile claims and unlimited roles under one identity. Identity Plus ($59.99/year) adds Family Hub, photos, videos, career timeline, advanced analytics, and achievement tracking. Organizations: Club Starter ($149/year) for small clubs (up to 30 players). Club Pro ($399/year) for mid-sized clubs (up to 150 players, multiple teams). Club Elite ($999/year) for large clubs (unlimited teams, advanced analytics, custom branding). League ($1,999+/year) for league-wide management. Federation (custom) for federation governance. Businesses: Business Listing ($99/year) for a single business claim. Business Plus ($299/year) for multiple listings, featured placement, messaging, and bookings. Founding Member badge is included on all paid tiers for the first 500 members.

Go to /pricing, pick the tier you want, and click the button. You will be sent to Stripe Checkout to enter your card. After payment, you land back in your dashboard and your new tier is active immediately. If you are not signed in, you will be prompted to sign up first.

Go to /dashboard/subscription and click "Manage billing". This opens a Stripe Customer Portal session where you can view PDF invoices, update your card, and see your billing history.

Email support@rinkstop.com. We respond within 24 hours. We intentionally do not bury a cancel button in your account - we want to understand what we could have done better before you leave. Your benefits stay active through the end of the period you paid for, and we will not auto-renew.

Yes. Upgrades take effect immediately and the unused portion of your current plan is credited toward the new one. Go to /pricing and pick the higher tier - the checkout flow handles proration automatically.

The first 500 paying members (any paid tier) get a permanent Founding Member badge on their profile. After 500, the tier stays available, but the badge does not come back. The badge marks the people who backed the site early.

No. There is a permanent Free tier that includes most browsing features. If you want to try a paid feature, sign up for Verified Identity - it is $24.99/year and you can cancel anytime by emailing support.

Go to /add-listing. Pick the listing type (Team, Player, Rink, League, Tournament, or Other), fill in the name, city, country, website, and a brief description, and submit. You do not need an account to submit a listing. We review submissions within 1-2 business days and email you at the address you provided.

Sign in and go to /dashboard/claims. Pick the type (rink, team, or player), enter the entity name and the URL/ID, and tell us why you are the right person to manage it. Include proof (a link to your official site, a league directory listing, or a screenshot of an admin panel). We review claims within 1-2 business days.

Verified Identity members can claim 1 listing (player profile). Identity Plus adds Family Hub and up to 5 roles under one identity. Business Listing claims 1 business listing. Business Plus claims up to 25 with featured placement. Federation is custom for 25+ listings. Free accounts can browse and submit listings but cannot claim existing ones. Parents of youth players can claim their kid's profile through the "I am this player's parent" button on the player page.

Club Starter ($149/year) covers one small club with up to 30 players. Club Pro ($399/year) covers up to 150 players with multiple teams. Club Elite ($999/year) covers unlimited teams with advanced analytics and custom branding. Federation is custom for organizations that need more. Lead capture is included on every claimed listing regardless of tier, so a single-club Club Starter gets the same lead pipeline as Club Elite.

Yes. On your kid's player profile page, click "I am this player's parent" and submit the form. The kid's profile shows "Managed by [your name]." You can manage the kid's team history, season stats, federation numbers, and track coach verifications and endorsements from your account. All messages sent to the kid route to your inbox. One parent account can manage multiple kids.

Verified Identity tier includes 1 claimed listing (your player profile) with editable details. Identity Plus tier includes up to 5 claimed roles under one identity. Business Plus includes up to 25 business listings. Federation covers larger organizations. Rink hours, contact email/phone, website, and social handles are all updatable.

New listing submissions: 1-2 business days. Claim requests: 1-2 business days. Both go to our team via internal notifications and email; you will hear back at the address you submitted with.

Email support@rinkstop.com with the listing ID (it appears in your submission confirmation). We will tell you why it was rejected and what to change. Most rejections are for duplicate entries or insufficient information.

Go to /directory and pick your country, or search by city. You can filter by league type (youth, adult, professional, recreational) and by tier (house, B, A, AA, AAA in the US; Novice through Midget in Canada).

Go to /directory/rinks and browse by country or state. Each rink has a page with address, hours, amenities, reviews, and a map. The home page also has a "Find rinks near me" search bar.

Sign in, then click the bookmark icon on any team, player, or rink page. The item shows up in /dashboard/favorites. Free users can save up to 3; Verified Identity and above can save unlimited.

Any signed-in user can leave a review on a rink page. Reviews include a 1-5 star rating and a text review. We moderate all reviews for spam, profanity, and personal attacks before they go public. You can see your own pending and published reviews at /dashboard/reviews.

Yes. We include the PWHL, NCAA women's hockey, IIHF Women's World Championship, and other women's leagues alongside our coverage of men's hockey. The directory filter has a "women's" option in the league-type dropdown.

Yes. We cover 41+ countries and growing. The /directory landing page has a country selector. Coverage is deepest in North America and Europe; we are actively expanding to Asia, Oceania, and South America.

Read our /guides section, starting with the "How to Fit Hockey Equipment" guide (separate versions for parents and adult players). Then visit /directory/youth-hockey for "Learn to Play" programs in your area, or /learn for adult beginner resources.

Your hockey passport is a verified record of your hockey career on RinkStop. It appears on your public profile at /profile/[username] and shows team history, per-season stats, federation registration numbers (USA Hockey, Hockey Canada), coach endorsements, and coach verifications. Self-reported rows start as "self-reported." Once a coach verifies a row, it flips to "coach-verified" with the coach's name and verification date. Only authenticated users can submit data; the passport itself is viewable by anyone.

Sign in, go to /dashboard/passport, and click "Add Team History." Choose a team and season, enter your jersey number, position (Forward, Defense, or Goalie), and start/end dates. Submitted rows start as "self-reported." You can manage all entries from your dashboard.

From /dashboard/passport, click "Add Season Stats." Select a season, level, and team, then enter your numbers. Skaters enter games played, goals, assists, and plus/minus. Goalies enter games played, wins, losses, goals against, save percentage, and shutouts. Each season+level can only be entered once — duplicate submissions return an error.

From /dashboard/passport, click "Edit Federation Numbers." Both fields are optional — you can add one, the other, or neither. You can update them at any time.

When you add self-reported team history for a team, any registered coach who is on record coaching that team can verify your row. Verification only works for rows marked "self-reported." Once a coach verifies, the row flips to "coach-verified" with the coach's name and verification date. Coaches can only verify rows for teams they actually coach (checked against their current team + team history). Coaches cannot re-verify rows that are already verified.

Registered coaches can write an endorsement for any player. Endorsements cover skills, character, leadership, eligibility for the next level, or recruitment readiness. The coach chooses visibility — sport-scoped (visible everywhere), cross-sport (visible in other sports), or private (only the player + coach). Endorsements appear on the player's passport with the coach's name and date. No two coaches can issue the same endorsement type for the same player — duplicate submissions are blocked.

Go to /dashboard/coach to register. Fill in your license number or issuing authority, your current team, and a short bio. Identity verification (government ID + selfie) is required — your coach profile is only issued after your identity is confirmed. Once registered, your coach profile is visible to players and you can issue endorsements and verify self-reported rows for teams you coach.

Parents manage a youth player's passport by claiming the kid's profile. The parent's account can add the kid's team history, stats, and federation numbers. Coach verification is the only thing a parent cannot do directly — only coaches physically involved with that team can verify. Coach endorsements are also written by coaches, not parents.

Identity Plus, Business Plus, Club Elite, League, and Federation tier members can DM each other. Free, Verified Identity, Business Listing, and lower Club tiers can read messages but cannot initiate new conversations. On any user's public profile page, click "Send connection request". Once they accept, you can message them from /dashboard/messages.

Identity. Anyone can sign up for Free and browse listings, but DMs require a paid tier (Identity Plus, Business Plus, Club Elite, League, or Federation) so the person on the other end knows they are dealing with a real account, not a throwaway.

Send a request from a user's profile page. They get a notification in /dashboard/connections and can accept or decline. Accepted connections unlock a DM thread. You can see incoming, outgoing, and accepted connections in /dashboard/connections.

Yes. Open a thread with that person in /dashboard/messages, click the menu, and choose "Block". They will not be able to send you new messages or connection requests. The block is one-sided and silent - they are not notified.

Yes. The parent's account sends the DM; the kid's profile is the context. Coaches and scouts see the kid's name and stats in the thread, with the parent's name in the from-line. This is how youth recruiting conversations work on RinkStop.

Reach out at /partner or email support@rinkstop.com with your story. Business Plus and Club Elite members get automatic Featured Listing rotation in their city. Non-Premium members can be considered for editorial coverage in /highlights.

Visit /advertise for our current ad products, or email support@rinkstop.com with your goals. We offer banner placements, sponsored guides, and partner packages. We do not run intrusive popups or take-over ads.

Read-only API access is available for verified partners. Email support@rinkstop.com with your use case. We do not currently offer a public/self-serve API.

Open a support ticket at /dashboard/support with subject "Report incorrect information", include the listing URL, and tell us what is wrong. We will fix verified errors within 1-2 business days.

Hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Shift+R on Mac) to bypass cache. If the issue persists, try a different browser or device. If it still does not work, open a support ticket at /dashboard/support with the page URL, your browser, and your device.

Open a support ticket at /dashboard/support with subject "Report a bug". Include the page URL, what you were doing, what you expected to happen, and what actually happened. Screenshots are very helpful.

Not yet. RinkStop is a mobile-responsive website that works on phones and tablets. Native iOS and Android apps are on the roadmap. There is no PWA install option at this time.

The Hockey Cost Calculator at /tools/hockey-cost-calculator estimates how much hockey costs per year in the United States. Enter the player's age, your state, and hockey level (House/Rec, Travel A/AA, or AAA), and the calculator returns a breakdown covering registration fees, equipment, ice time, tournaments, travel, and other costs - all based on 2026 data. No sign-up is required. The calculator is free to use and the results are shareable.

Use the search bar on the homepage or go to /claim-your-listing and type the name. If the listing appears, it's already in our directory. If it does not appear, you can submit a new listing from /add-listing or claim it once you have a Verified Identity or higher membership.

Email support@rinkstop.com with the review text and the rink it was on. We will remove it within 1-2 business days.

Email support@rinkstop.com for all questions. You can also open a ticket in-app at /dashboard/support. We respond within 1-2 business days for general questions and within 24 hours for paid-tier members.