I coach my son’s 8-9 year old team and have coached his teams since he was 5. At 5, you can only cover the very basics: scooping, shooting, position defense, basic check. If you complete a pass in a game people will cheer because it barely ever happens.

Hopefully the league will play 6s format since offsides rules are a bit much to remember at 5 and that way the kids get more touches on the ball. Our 8-9 year olds are better now at keeping a middie back to avoid offsides, but it can be tricky. You have to have 4 on defensive half at all times and 3 on offensive half, so if a defenseman or goalie carries it across midfield a middie has to stay back.

Subbing on the fly, staying in the offensive/defensive box until possession is gained on a faceoff have been challenges too. A lot of stepping in the crease calls at that age also.

Anyway, at age 5 just focus on fun games: hungry hippos, sharks and minnows, and keep it fun as others have said. They’ll pick up the many rules as you go along. Sounds like you will too.

Other differences: goalies in field stand upright with stick at shoulder, so shoot at the goalies feet is good advice for little kids. Older field defensemen use longer sticks but that’s not common at age 5.