An intangible benefit of membership is belonging to a growing National Governing Body which trains and selects men's and women's national teams at various levels. In addition, you become united with more than 62,000 adult members of USA Hockey, nearly 550,000 strong and growing. When registering with USA Hockey, a league makes the decision to follow the Official Playing Rules of USA Hockey. In an unregistered league, the rules could be drastically more or less stringent, and they might be changed in mid-season. Less stringent rules and selective enforcement could add up to be a disaster waiting to happen.
Members tend to play safer when they have balanced rules and referee enforcement.
USA Hockey has several councils, committees and staff members to focus their efforts on creating safer playing conditions. The officiating program at USA Hockey includes approximately 21,500 trained, certified officials. Each year, every official must attend a seminar and pass a rules exam. The officiating program has developed a full line of instructional materials, manuals, rules videos, and most recently, a manual for off-ice officials such as timekeepers and scorekeepers. The Coaching Education Program establishes levels of achievement for each coach, from beginners to highly skilled experts, to improve the caliber and quality of coaching in hockey.