When I was five years old my parents took me to my first girls’ hockey game. I had watched my brother play hockey before and watched NHL hockey many times (my family has always been hockey crazy) but I had never seen GIRLS hockey before. I didn’t even know girls had their own league until my parents took me to watch my older cousin Shanna play. After watching the game I was hooked, and begged my parents to play. My dad was more than happy (I think it was his plan all along) to support this idea. After the game while talking to Shanna, she told us that she had decided to coach a young girls’ team and was hoping that I would play on it. Unfortunately, it was mid-season and I was going to have to wait till the following fall to lace up the skates. That summer I played road hockey with my brother as much as possible in order to prepare myself. Luckily, my parents put me in skating lessons as soon as possible so I was already able to skate. After that first year, I was hooked and my life has never been the same since. Just two years later, I tried out for the Oshawa rep team and made it! From that point on, my nights were consumed with practice and my weekends were full of games. From grade 4 till today I still play competitive hockey. I sacrificed a lot of my time and friendships for the sport, yet I wouldn’t change anything about it.
I have been neglecting my team these last few weeks and missing practices to work or complete homework. This morning I was going to text my coach and tell him that I am yet again, unable to go to practice. However, right before I did, I took a moment to think. I wanted to go, I made an obligation to go and the only reason I wasn’t going to go was because of school work. I decided this was not a good enough reason and I was going to take my hour to go to hockey. When I arrived I was immediately glad that I decided to go. Shanna (who now plays on the same team as me!) and all my friends on the team were there. It is rare that we get a time when almost everyone can make it but today we had the numbers.
I can’t really describe the feeling I get from hockey. It is like nothing else I have ever experienced. It allows me to be creative; team oriented and even a little aggressive (good way to get my aggression out). Hockey is the only thing that allows me to escape from the outside world. Regardless of what’s happening in my life, it is forgotten about the second I step on the ice. That’s the weird thing about the sport for me, worrying about school, stressing about my family, and conflicts between my friends are irrelevant on the ice. They are not going to make me a better or worse player and they certainly are not going to help the outcome of the game so they don’t even cross my mind. It is a dream of mine to one day have a backyard rink (my parent’s backyard is too small) so I have the little escape only a few steps away.
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