Malachi Yebba of Jaffrey started skating when he was about 1 1/2 years old; his hockey-playing father Anthony saw to that.

“As soon as I could walk, he put me on skates,” Malachi said.

Hockey followed at about 5 or 6, and Malachi, 13, is currently a defenseman for the Boston Ice Dogs at the Bantam AAA level. In addition to tournaments in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, he has played in Nashville, with upcoming tournaments in Florida, Lake Placid, N.Y.; and Coral Springs, Fla., on the horizon.

But none of those trips compare to the one he is about to take to Prague in the Czech Republic for the Czech Lions Cup, a tournament for teams from North America and Europe at the U12 to U16 levels. Malachi was invited to play by Pro Ambitions Hockey, a Massachusetts-based youth hockey camp organization founded by former NHL player Jeff Serowik.

“It’s very nerve-wracking,” Malachi said. “It’s pretty crazy to me. I never expected to go to another country to play hockey.”

Malachi, who attends Gathering Waters Charter School in Keene, leaves Aug. 3 and returns Aug. 11. His mother, Michelle Blais, and 9-year-old sister Memphis Yebba will be going with him.

“I can’t see leaving his little sister behind, because I don’t know if we’ll ever go back to Prague,” Blais said.

According to Blais, the flight from Boston to Iceland will be five hours and 15 minutes, followed by an hour layover and a three-hour, 45-minute flight to Prague.

“Once we booked the flights and everything, it became real,” she said.

“We’re pumped for sure, and super proud of him,” Blais said.

Malachi was actually supposed to go to Prague a few years ago, Blais said, but COVID and the war in Ukraine scuttled those plans. While in Prague, Malachi and his U.S. teammates are guaranteed one exhibition game before the tournament begins and five guaranteed games.

Off the ice, activities will include a tour of the Terezin concentration camp. To prepare, Blais has been reading and talking to her children about the Holocaust, and they have matched movies on the subject.

“I’m a little nervous, because I know it’s going to be super-emotional, but it’s important,” she said.

Players will also take a dinner cruise on the Vlatava River and go on sightseeing tours around Prague.

“We’re pumped for sure, and proud of him,” Blais said of Malachi.