Start of minor hockey season always special
It’s that time of year that evokes so many feelings for kids and parents.
“Does everything still fit? Can you find all of your stuff? Are we ready?”
Yes, it’s hockey tryouts time. Where has the summer gone? Our household still maintains that hockey finishes in spring and then our boys move on to Canada’s summer sport: Lacrosse. With summer almost over, it’s time to put away the LAX equipment and pull out all the hockey gear and begin preparing for what is an exciting time, but also a nerve-racking time, maybe more for parents than kids.
How many August tryouts have I experienced? Well, my sons are 15 and 17 so that’s a lot of years. They will be at it again in the next few days and weeks and still are as excited as ever. It’s a time of up and down emotions: the tears when you find out you didn’t “make” it the shouts and screams of joy when you find you “made” it. The sometimes hard lessons in life can begin at the rink, but having experienced both “ends of the stick,” resilience is built, as is character.
This past weekend I volunteered with the Ottawa Sting Minor Hockey Association helping to register kids trying out at the Minor Atom and Major Atom level, ages nine and 10 respectively. It has been a couple of days of reflection for me as I look at these little guys coming in to the rink, some of them barely able to balance the weight of the bag on their shoulders, so polite and well spoken. Parents, grandparents and friends hover in the background and you can feel their support. Players are so happy to reconnect with their friends, some of whom they have not seen since the end of last season.
This is what hockey is all about, excitement, friendships, smiles and camaraderie. This is where it all started, whether you are an NHL star, or still playing minor hockey. This is hockey and the kids love it.
I don’t know what I will do in a couple of years when my sons age out of minor hockey. As tired as we have been in the afterwork rush, trying to feed the boys something healthy and each of us going in different directions to the rink, the friendships and memories and the values instilled in them playing hockey have really had an impact on all of us. Though I remember sitting in a freezing cold rink at 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning my hands wrapped around a cup of coffee, it has been a journey that I am glad I did not miss.