Just under 84,000 active players practice hockey in Germany. They range from competitive athletes who play in the national leagues or even in the DHB selections to purely recreational hockey players who swing their sticks in a senior team or one of the many mixed parent hockey teams. No other team ball sport has as high a proportion of female players as hockey.

About half of all hockey players are children and young people under the age of 18. Hockey has seen very strong growth rates in Germany in recent years, especially among young players. Many clubs offer introductory programs, known as mini or wuselhockey, which focus on play and motor skills development and for which the starting age varies greatly from club to club, ranging from three to five years old.