DFW high school hockey: Texas Scholastic Hockey League guide for 2026-27
By DFW Rink Guide · Published Oct 23, 2026
High school hockey in Dallas-Fort Worth is played in the Texas Scholastic Hockey League (TSHL), and 2026-27 is its first season. The league lists 22 member clubs and 65 teams, split into 34 Varsity teams and 31 Scholastic (junior varsity) teams. This guide explains the divisions, who can play, how standings work and where games are played. Use the table below to find your school's club and jump to its official team page.
Schedules and standings are on the official TSHL site (HockeyShift). We link straight to them and do not copy, embed or republish them. The league's own pages are the source of truth and change as games are played, so a copy on our site would only go stale. We also never publish player names, rosters, player stats or photos of students. The league's site fills in its tables a few seconds after the page opens. If a team page stays blank, refresh it or use the official standings, which list every team.
What is the TSHL, and what happened to the AT&T league?
The Texas Scholastic Hockey League is a high school hockey league. Its Varsity division is for grades 9 to 12, and its Scholastic (junior varsity) division is for younger players through 10th grade. The Texas Hockey League (THL) created it as a dedicated operating arm separate from THL's youth travel league, after working with TAHA. TAHA's June 20, 2026 announcement says the Dallas Stars were preparing to take the final step in moving the high school league to a community-based governance model for the 2026-27 season. Older pages, searches and our own earlier listing called the league the AT&T Metroplex High School Hockey League; TAHA's own high school page still links to that league's website, which did not load when we checked on Oct 23, 2026.
One naming wrinkle: TAHA's release calls the new body the "Texas High School Hockey League," while the league's own website and the THL announcement use Texas Scholastic Hockey League (TSHL). They mean the same league. The league's board includes representatives from TAHA/USA Hockey, the THL board and the Eastern and Western clubs, according to its leadership page. It describes the 2026-27 season as its inaugural one, and McKinney Ice Hockey Club calls it that too.
Find your team
These are the 22 member clubs on the league's member list: 12 in the Eastern group and 10 in the Western group. Each club fields one or more teams. The team buttons open that team's official page on the TSHL site, where the current schedule, scores and standing are. Home rinks are shown only when the club's own site or the rink says so; 6 of 22 are confirmed so far, and we'd rather show "Not verified" than guess.
Team codes: VG Varsity Gold, VS Varsity Silver, VB Varsity Bronze, SR Scholastic Red, SB Scholastic Blue, SW Scholastic White. Team pages and the club sites are run by their owners; we link to them with attribution. McKinney families can also see our McKinney Ice Hockey Club page.
The league's team list also includes a Team Texas team (Team Texas SB) and 4 teams from Shreveport and Tulsa, which are not DFW member clubs. See our Team Texas Girls High School Hockey listing for the girls high school program.
Divisions: Varsity, Scholastic, Gold, Silver, Bronze
The TSHL has two levels. Varsity is for grades 9 to 12. Scholastic is the junior varsity level. Inside each level, teams are sorted into tiered divisions "in seasons where the number of teams allows for a competitive schedule at multiple levels," according to the rules, and the league can use leveling games to decide where a team belongs. A maximum of 8 teams per division make the playoffs, and each division has its own playoff tier.
| Level | Division | Team code | Teams on the official list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varsity | Gold | VG | 7 |
| Varsity | Silver | VS | 15 |
| Varsity | Bronze | VB | 12 |
| Scholastic (junior varsity) | Red | SR | 7 |
| Scholastic (junior varsity) | Blue | SB | 17 |
| Scholastic (junior varsity) | White | SW | 7 |
Division names are confirmed on the club sites of McKinney, Frisco and Denton County; the counts come from the TSHL's team list as of Oct 23, 2026. Teams can change divisions between seasons.
Who can play
Eligibility comes from the league's 2026-27 rules. Read the full documents before tryouts or registration: Varsity rules and Scholastic rules. Clubs can also set their own requirements. For example, McKinney's club serves students zoned for McKinney ISD.
| Varsity | Scholastic (JV) | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Grades 9 to 12. Eligibility is limited to eight consecutive semesters starting with the first semester of 9th grade. | No longer eligible after the 10th-grade year. |
| Age (measured December 31, 2026) | Not eligible if you turn 20 on or before December 31. | Must turn 13 by December 31; the maximum age is 16, and a player who turns 17 during the calendar year the season begins is not eligible. |
| School | Full-time student (four classes). | Full-time student (four classes). |
| Academics | UIL no pass, no play standards apply, so a player has to be a student in good standing. | UIL no pass, no play standards apply, so a player has to be a student in good standing. |
| Which club | The club for your school or attendance zone. Players without a club in their area register as unaffiliated and the league assigns them. | Same rule as Varsity. |
| Roster limits | Rosters close on December 23 and are capped at 30 players. | Rosters close on December 23 and are capped at 30 players. |
| Playoff eligibility | A player must appear in 8 regular-season games of the playoff team. | A player must appear in 8 regular-season games of the playoff team. |
| Period length | 15 minutes, three periods, stopped clock. | 13 minutes, three periods, stopped clock. |
Students whose school or zone has no team can register as an unaffiliated player with the league, which assigns them to a club. The league's player information page has the new-player packet, and its registration page lists what is open. Questions go to the league's contact form, the commissioner at commissioner@texasscholastichockeyleague.com or the registrar at registrar@texasscholastichockeyleague.com.
2026-27 season timeline
The league publishes its schedule on the TSHL site, so this is a simple frame of the season, not a game list. Countdowns are calculated each time we rebuild the site (today is Oct 23, 2026).
| Date | What happens | When |
|---|---|---|
| September 11, 2026 | Regular season begins with the Leveling Tournament, according to McKinney Ice Hockey Club's season page. The rules let the league use leveling games to decide which division a team plays in. | 42 days ago |
| Nov 27-29, 2026 | High School Showdown, a Dallas Stars Tournaments event for high school Varsity and JV teams. See the tournament listing. | in 35 days |
| December 23, 2026 | Roster deadline: no player may be added or removed after this date (TSHL rules). | in 61 days |
| December 31, 2026 | Age is measured on this date for both divisions. | in 69 days |
| Around March | Regular season ends, according to the McKinney club page (exact date to be announced). | |
| April 3 and April 4, 2027 | The first weekend of April is the latest the rules allow for a regular-season game. Playoffs follow, with up to 8 teams per division. | in 162 days |
The league also posts a 2026-27 schedule info page with its game day calendar and crossover-game information.
How TSHL standings work
Every regular-season game has a winner: no game ends in a tie. A tied game goes to a 4-on-4, 5-minute sudden-death overtime and then a 3-player shootout. That is why the points table rewards the winner and also gives the loser one point if it lost after regulation. See the live TSHL standings for the current table.
| Result | Points |
|---|---|
| Regulation win | 3 |
| Overtime or shootout win | 2 |
| Overtime or shootout loss | 1 |
| Regulation loss | 0 |
Example: a team with 2 regulation wins, 1 overtime win, 1 shootout loss and 1 regulation loss has 9 points after 5 games (2 x 3 + 1 x 2 + 1 x 1 + 1 x 0). If two teams finish level on points, the tiebreakers run in this order: most regulation wins, head-to-head points, fewest goals allowed, best goal differential, fewest penalty minutes, then a coin toss. For three or more teams the head-to-head step is skipped. Cancelled weather games may or may not be rescheduled, depending on ice.
The six-goal rule also matters for scores: if the margin reaches six goals in the third period, the clock runs continuously until the gap closes. Varsity periods are 15 minutes and Scholastic periods are 13 minutes, according to the rules.
Where TSHL games are played
League games can only be played at rinks the league has approved. The TSHL's rink locations page lists 12 rinks on its map. We list them here with our own rink pages. Home rink assignments change, so use the official schedule for where each game is.
Next steps for parents
- Find your child's school in the table above, open the club site and read its tryout and registration page.
- McKinney: see the McKinney Ice Hockey Club page and McKinney youth hockey. Plano: Plano East Hockey Club, Plano West Hockey Club and Plano Wildcats Hockey Association (Plano Senior) and the Plano page. Frisco: Frisco Ice Hockey Association and the Frisco page.
- For the tournament calendar, see the High School Showdown and the full tournament guide.
- Browse every high school club in our leagues and clubs directory, check public skate times for extra ice, or read our DFW youth hockey guide for younger players.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Texas Scholastic Hockey League?
The Texas Scholastic Hockey League (TSHL) is the Dallas-Fort Worth high school hockey league. 2026-27 is its first season. It has Varsity and Scholastic (junior varsity) divisions, 22 member clubs and 65 teams on its official team list. The Texas Hockey League runs it as a separate operating arm, with the support of the Texas Amateur Hockey Association (TAHA).
Where are TSHL schedules and standings?
On the official TSHL website, which runs on HockeyShift: texasscholastichockeyleague.com/stats. Choose Schedule for games and scores or Standings for the table. Each team also has its own page there. We link to those pages and do not copy them.
What do Varsity Gold, Silver and Bronze mean?
They are competitive-level divisions within Varsity. The league rules say teams apply for the division that fits their level, and the league can place a team in a different division or require leveling games first. The Scholastic (junior varsity) division uses Red, Blue and White the same way. The league's team names abbreviate them as VG, VS, VB, SR, SB and SW.
How do TSHL standings points work?
A regulation win is 3 points, an overtime or shootout win is 2, an overtime or shootout loss is 1, and a regulation loss is 0. Ties in the standings are broken first by most regulation wins. No game ends in a tie.
Who can play in the TSHL?
Varsity players must be in grades 9 to 12 and under 20 on December 31. Scholastic players must turn 13 by December 31, can be no older than 16, and are not eligible after 10th grade. A player who turns 17 during the calendar year the season begins cannot play Scholastic. Both need to be full-time students, meet the UIL no pass, no play academic rule and play for the club that represents their school or zone, or register as an unaffiliated player.
What happened to the AT&T High School Hockey League?
In June 2026 TAHA announced that the Dallas Stars were preparing to hand governance of the high school league to a community-based model, and the Texas Hockey League created the TSHL to run it from the 2026-27 season. The old AT&T league site (atthighschoolhockeyleague.com) did not load when we checked on Oct 23, 2026, so we replaced our old listing with this guide.
Looking for something specific? Search the full directory of rinks, leagues, camps and tournaments. See something wrong or out of date? Suggest a correction and we'll check it against the source. DFW Rink Guide is independent and not affiliated with the TSHL, THL, TAHA or any club.
Sources
- TSHL home page (team list and team pages): texasscholastichockeyleague.com · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- TSHL member clubs (Eastern and Western groups, club sites): texasscholastichockeyleague.com/members · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- TSHL rules, Varsity Division 2026-27 (dated Aug 8, 2026): digitalshift-assets.sfo2.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/pw/8cee69b5-5180-4 · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- TSHL rules, Scholastic (JV) Division 2026-27 (dated Aug 4, 2026): digitalshift-assets.sfo2.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/pw/8cee69b5-5180-4 · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- TSHL rink locations (league rink map): texasscholastichockeyleague.com/rink-locatons · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- TSHL schedule and standings (HockeyShift): texasscholastichockeyleague.com/stats#/3964/schedule?season_id=11155 · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- TSHL contact page: texasscholastichockeyleague.com/contact · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- TSHL leadership page: texasscholastichockeyleague.com/staff · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- TAHA press release, June 20, 2026: high school hockey transitions to community governance: tahahockey.org/news/high-school-hockey-transitions-to-the-texas-high-s · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- Texas Hockey League announcement of the TSHL: texashockeyleague.com/news/the-next-chapter-for-high-school-hockey · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- TAHA high school hockey page: tahahockey.org/high-school-hockey-info · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- McKinney Ice Hockey Club, Fall 2026-2027 season page (leveling date, "inaugural season of the TSHL"): mckinneyicehockey.org/program/fall-2026-2027-season/35585 · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- Frisco Ice Hockey Association team menu (Gold, Silver, Bronze, Red and Blue team names): friscoicehockeyassociation.com · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- Denton County Spartans team menu (Scholastic Red and Blue): dentoncountyspartans.com · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- McKinney Ice Hockey Club home page (Scholastic White, Varsity Bronze and Silver team names): mckinneyicehockey.org · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- HockeyShift website visitor terms (why we link instead of copying): hockeyshift.com/website-visitor-terms · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- Texas Scholastic Hockey League (TSHL) (our listing source): texasscholastichockeyleague.com/members · Last verified Oct 23, 2026
- High School Showdown (our listing source): dallasstarstournaments.com/high-school-showdown · Last verified Oct 15, 2026