Life Lessons in Hockey

We spent most of this weekend at a hockey tournament with the fearless Panthers.  There are so many life lessons in sports, hockey included, that it brings out the preacher in me.  I observe such moments of greatness that I want to keep lecturing the boys and applying all I see to their lives and their development.  E very one of our boys excelled this weekend, those that played and those that cheered.  

On the first day of the tournament the 10 and under teams played for six whole hours.  Life Lesson Number One started before the team even stepped inline boot in the arena. The team had only one sub and in an effort to give them each a bit of a break a second sub was rounded up; the feisty brother of a player.  Luckily his gear was in the family vehicle so they suited him up and added him to the roster.  This brand new member of the team is six years old but sees no limits and age and size is no barrier.  He held his own and gave the players a few extra minutes of recovery here and there and made all the difference.  Life Lesson Number One:  Never accept limitations imposed by society, others or self.

The team was losing their second game and heads were starting to sink and shoulders cave.  As they headed into the second half down four goals to the team that would ultimately win the championship, something shifted.  Suddenly the team, who had been playing well all along, was playing like they wanted to win.  They gave the champs a run for their money and left the rink with their heads held high and in a bracket to play for third or fourth place.  Life Lesson Number Two:  While you may feel like you’re losing, you’re actually on your way to winning.

When the team emerged for their next game they seemed double their previous size.  They knew they had faced a great team and had so far held them off more successfully than any of the other  teams.  They also had a new strategy that helped them to play to their strengths.  Three of the players are very capable of passing and scoring and that became their only job, one of the players is a great defender and complemented the goalie beautifully so he stayed back.  One of the players has not played in a tournament before and is fairly new to hockey, but he is very intimidating on skates.  His mission was to get in the other team’s way and stare them down.  It worked like a charm and six goals later the Panthers had their first win.  Life Lesson Number Three:  There is a time to branch out and a time to stick to what you know; choose each wisely.

In their fourth and final game the team was exhausted, as were their opponents and our team’s defender was injured.  We fed him bananas to help with his cramps and waited and hoped.  Without him we had one miniature, albeit undeterred sub and a very tired team.   Number 3 looked up from his haze and said, “I can do this” and off they went looking stronger than they felt but knowing there was a medal on the line.  They played with character and resolve and won the bronze.  Life Lesson Number Four:  When you think you have nothing left, dig deeper.

While all of this was going on we had greatness off the rink too.  Our hockey player’s older brother had begged before the tournament to be allowed to be in the box for his brother’s games and assist in “coaching” the team.   The coach let him and he was positive, respectful and encouraging to the team, an assistant coach of which to be proud.  Our other two do not play but they came and cheered on the Panthers and did not complain even once about being bored, tired or hungry, and truly they would have had every right to be a little testy during the course of six hours.  They were fabulously patient, cheered on the Panthers and even though they ultimately had to wait until 10:30pm for dinner, they never uttered the words that they hoped the team lost so that we could leave and go and eat!  Life Lesson Number Five:  We have a great family!

PS – By the end of the weekend we had bronze medalists and silver medalists.  The silver medalists won all their games except the last one for the championship, which they narrowly ceded in overtime; couldn’t be prouder!!