Ok, so the Flyers were on a 10 game road trip and performed very poorly. I haven't blogged about it because it was such a disappointment. These guys almost always perform poorly against Western Conference teams. I have no idea why but it happens. The Islanders win the other night was sloppy and the loss to Buffalo was a real downer after the holiday yesterday and my home-game hockey drought. Well, the jersey goes in the wash tonight and hopefully we'll start winning again.
The reason I decided to check in here today is youth hockey. We always watch professional hockey and are usually amazed at the skill these guys possess. Their ability to handle a piece of hard rubber sliding across the ice always impresses me! But we rarely stop to think about how these guys got their start. I'm not talking about AHL, Juniors, Olympics, OHL, whatever...not even college...I'm talking about where they REALLY got their start. This part of hockey is featured in this season's annual Flyers Yearbook.
I started reading some of the articles and the first line of one almost brought a tear to my eye. I STILL haven't read the whole thing yet. It started off conjuring images of driving to the rink before dawn and packing the hockey bags and whatnot and it really hit home for me. I am part of a very elite group. It's a group of parents who make HUGE sacrifices for their children. For their children's love of hockey. The sacrifices we make aren't just monitary. We sacrifice our time AND our sleep to make sure that our kids are able to participate in the sport they love! We brave the cold inside the rink and out, sipping gallons of coffee (since it IS only 6:30 am). We brave the ungodly STENCH that eminates from the hockey bag (and our kid). We are an elite fraternity. We are a team unto ourselves. The sense of community that hockey parents are a part of is something that no other parent can understand.
I don't even fully understand it yet but I'm willing to find out.
1 comment:
As a travel hockey mom for three seasons now, I'm sure you will find that it only gets better! A hockey team becomes "family", spending so much time together for multiple practices each week and weekends spent at games both home and away. For us here in VA, the away games tend to require an overnight stay somewhere, making it a real "event". And when the season lasts from warm-up practices in August through playoffs in March, that's the better part of your year. But you are correct. We are a special, elite group - and finding a community of like-minded individuals makes for a very enjoyable "sacrifice". Hope you are enjoying your Thanksgiving weekend...sounds like it may be one of your last at home and not at a hockey tourney!
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