Niche winter sports yield family feel

This is one of my favorite times of the year.

No, not simply because of the holidays, although that is a major plus.

Rather, I love this time of year because of the sports that are on my beat during the winter: hockey and swimming.

Or, quite frankly, as I like to refer to them, my family.

You see, that’s one of the great things about covering a niche sport — you get to know the coaches, the players, the fans and the officials as much as they get to know you.

That’s not to say I don’t enjoy covering the other sports. That my fall beat of football and spring beat of softball have not brought forth meaningful relationships.

Rather, it’s just different.

There’s so many more teams, and everyone you talk with is searching for the right thing to say.

Not with hockey and swimming.

Since there are not as many teams, I get to see the same players and coaches more often.

And, as a side effect of being a marginalized sport in terms of high school coverage (and in my opinion that is a major disservice to the sports), they become more comfortable with them.

The players and coaches, the parents and referees, they feel comfortable talking with me. It’s not simply a questionand-answer session. They go more in depth without my prompting. They will perhaps give me more insight than they normally would.

And that is because they trust me.

Like family.

And it honestly does feel like a family.

When my son was born just under eight weeks ago, I found my Twitter, email and text messages jam packed with congratulatory messages — and one backhanded compliment from a favorite former coach of mine who said it was a good thing the kid looked more like my wife than me — mostly coming from the readers on my winter sports beats.

It’s just a natural connection you form due to the way those sports are structured.

Try not to get to know people at a weekend hockey tournament where you are watching 10-plus hockey games together over the course of a couple days.

Or perhaps you can find a way not to have any conversations at an all-day swim meet.

If you can do that, kudos to you — it’s not an easy feat.

But I can promise you that you would be missing out. Because for every story you hear about a hockey parent crossing the line, I can tell you one about a parent who went out of his or her way to help.

For every swim meet you choose not to attend, I can relate stories about the swimmers who were elated to see their friends and family supporting them.

And, as the season for both sports truly starts to heat up with the new year, I look forward to seeing what new stories I can pass along. What elation and defeat awaits my winter family.

And I look forward to getting to know a new crop of parents, coaches and players.

Excuse me, I mean getting to know my new family members.

JEN FORBUS — FOR THE MORNING JOURNAL Avon Lake’s Colin Reynolds takes Midview’s Bryan Weaver off his feet Dec. 23. With less teams, covering area high school hockey allows for a more personable feel.