What really made the difference for me was the University of Minnesota Duluth's hockey camp. Following that towards the end of high school, I had some interest from the Omaha Lancers, which were in a fairly new league at the time but I didn't play in the right areas of the country to attract college interest. I was always a defenseman.
After a long hiatus, I started playing again but ended leaving the league in question due to some differences in what constituted dirty play. Nothing formal but there were too many straight arrows who got bent out of shape over redirecting people's sticks, puching people with the thumb of the glove, or more subtle tripping, etc. To each his own but I was looking for a more competitive adult leage which I had not found at the time.
These days I'd be starting over again if I tried it. I think about it sometimes but the times you can get the rink generally suck and I don't keep a car anymore so it hasn't progressed beyond the occasional day dream.
