Four-year-old Violet Loh is already showing signs of a fearless warrior, as she takes to the ice as one of a few girls in Castle Ice Arena’s Hockey 1, youth program.

Last Sunday, she practiced stopping, shooting pucks and falling down on the ice with about 15 other boys and girls of a similar young age. Violet visited the sidelines often for water and so her dad could lift her helmet and push her hair out of her face. There were cheers, a few tears, pep talks and plenty of rallying among the young athletes and parents at Sunday’s session.

It’s spring at the rink in the Renton Highlands and that means the start of Hockey 1 lessons.

Violet’s parents play in amateur hockey leagues and discovered the youth programs because they play games at Castle.

“It’s to get her out of the house, to get her some exercise, hang out with some other kids,” said Gabriel Loh, her father.

Originally from Canada, the Chestolowski family, which now lives in Renton, also discovered the youth programs casually. They visited the rink for skate nights and soon signed 6-year-old son Kris up to learn.

“It’s not something I ever wanted to force on him, but we had him out to tee ball and some other sports,” said Richard Chestolowski. “He didn’t really take to it and we brought him out here. Once he learned to skate, it was something he wanted to do and loved it. He’s been doing it ever since.”

Castle Ice Arena has six series of Hockey 1 instruction a year, teaching an average of 180 kids. The program runs six weeks, with registration available at anytime. Hockey 2 runs in the fall and spring and nets about 80 kids in that series.

“We stress fun and then once we have fun, we hit the fundamentals from there,” said Mason McTaggert, an instructor. The kids rent all of their gear from Castle. For a little more than $100 they get gloves, a helmet, stick, skates and registration taken care of for the program. In addition to the coaches, there are a lot of volunteers to help keep the wee ones upright.

“I like the skating and shooting pucks; it’s fun,” said Kris Chestolowski.

Some may regard hockey as a dangerous sport, but not so says Castle staff. McTaggert points out the rambunctious and curious nature of the 4- and 5-year-olds he teaches.

“When they fall on the ice, they’re use to falling down a lot,” he said. “Once we get them all geared up and they realize they can’t fall, and there’s no problem, and they’re not going to hurt themselves, then they show a lot of no fear.”

Former Boston Bruins defender Jamie Huscroft stresses that there is no contact in the game until players reach age 12 and then only on a high-level traveling squad. There’s no contact in the youth house leagues either he notes. Huscroft is the general manager of Castle Ice Arena.

“It’s clean; it’s competitive,” he said. “Like all sports you’re teaching those values, hard work and being morally and ethically correct and doing the right thing. It’s a great program and I’m proud to say I’m helping build this to help kids become better people, young men and young women.”

He asks parents to consider the amount of potential injuries in soccer and football today compared to youth hockey programs.

“Back when I was playing there were five to six fighters,” Huscroft said. “They weren’t great skaters, but they were great fighters. Now the NHL is such that they’re not great fighters, but they’re great skaters. So even if he is a fighter, he’s not a big goon like they use to have. You’ve got to be able to skate.”

Googling Huscroft reveals Youtube videos of some of his fights. The Canadian played professionally from 1987 to 2001, with such teams as the New Jersey Devils, Boston, the Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lighting, Vancouver Canucks, Phoenix Coyotes and the Washington Capitals.

“It wasn’t fun, but at least it got me there,” he said of the fighting. “And I’m very proud to say that I played in the NHL for many years, unfortunately because that was my role.”

Despite his modest assessment, online commentary also reveals Huscroft is admired for what he brought to the game. Sno King Hockey’s web site called him a “consummate warrior and leader, and well respected by teammates and rivals alike.”

Starting early at hockey is the key to success, Huscroft said. Castle has even taught some 3-year-olds how to skate.

“They’re just little tykes, but you start when you’re 4 years old, by the time you’re 6, these kids they’re flying out there,” he said.”They’ve got a jump on the competition.”

Perhaps best of all are the names for the different youth levels. There are Mites, Squirts, Pee Wees, Bantams and Midgets, oh my.