Kids' Sports

My 12 year old son just started playing ice hockey this past year. Prior to about a year and a half ago, I think he had put on a pair of skates once maybe twice in his life. But moving to AZ and it being 115* outside one day during the summer, we decided to go to the ice rink for a public skate session. That was all it took. We signed him up for beginning ice hockey lessons. he skipped one whole session, and was in the Coyotes Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) Initiation Program before we knew what had hit us.

Then it did hit us: crap, hockey is another really expensive sport (he had previously done taekwondo, also expensive.) Baseball and soccer weren't so bad. But he was loving it.

Now, hockey, for those of you that know me, is my favorite sport of all time. I'll watch it live, on TV, listen to it on the radio, hell, I'll even watch old games just to get my hockey fix. But I never pushed Nate to play it. I didn't want to be one of those kinds of moms.

Needless to say, as a 1st year player he wasn't the best on the team but damn that kid played his heart out and had a blast every time those skates hit the ice. I loved seeing him come off the ice and immediately ask when he could get out there again, when can he practice again. We set up a net in the garage for him to practice (after a brief make-shift one made of horses and an old comforter) and he learned to tape his stick in his own way no longer relying on Mom or Dad to do it.

The team he played on was part of the House League for CAHA and most of the kids were 1st to 2nd year players but there were a couple that played for the Select team as well and were pretty damn good (and scored 90% of the goals for our team.) It didn't bother Nate though; he just went out there and did his part, listened to the coaches, soaked up the advice, and tried his best. They started out a little rough at the beginning of the season but then went on a 10 game winning streak. We ended up in 1st place and played for the championship. It was heartbreaking to watch these 10-12 year old boys look so deflated when they came off the ice. Those little ribbons didn't look as good as those trophies for 1st place. I think there might have been a few tears, too. As a parent, you just have to encourage them, tell them how proud you are of them, and give them a hug.

All in all though, I think Nate thoroughly enjoyed himself and can't wait to get out there and do it all again next season.

As a parent, you can only hope your kids are happy, doing the things that they love.

And it doesn't hurt when Mom loves it as well, too. ;)

~with much love, always