Sunday, April 28, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
A Hockey Mom's Enduring Memories
I couldn't wait to share this article with all of you. My friend and fellow hockey mom, Caroline Stanistreet, sums up well, the range of emotions you feel as your child makes that transition from youth to high school hockey, or perhaps is ready to put the skates away and move on to another sport. The smiles,the goals, the passes, the painful losses, the glorious wins, the friends, the tears, the locker room dances, the long drives and in the blink of an eye, it's over. You may want to have a tissue handy for this one.
A Hockey Mom's Enduring Memories
This spring marked the end of an era, the end of a fun and interesting excursion called youth hockey. Our son Sean finished his second year as a Bantam Travel player, thus over a decade of memories on-ice and off-ice have been flooding, or perhaps icing over, in my mind.
So, fellow Hockey Moms and Dads…do you remember when... the first year he laced his own skates, then the time came when he said, “I can do it all by myself!”
We waited in line quite patiently for his skates to get sharpened. While waiting, we strategically planned the next time his skates needed sharpening, so we could be first in line at the hockey shop the second it opened. His first time he was checked, scary or what? The first clean check HE performed on another player, and you felt some strange satisfaction known as "payback." He’d forget a glove, a helmet, or a skate before a game...nothing major!! We boiled mouth guards for that "custom fit," which the kids all chew to smithereens anyway.
They played Knee hockey in the hotel hallways--until the security guard sent them away. Parents talked in the hotel hallways until the wee hours of the morning--until the security guard sent them away. The moms would plan carpools each week to and from practices and games, often a part-time job in itself but well worth the effort. Your first whiff of hockey equipment left you breathless. For some reason, the kids could never smell it. You visited the opponents’ towns so frequently, you could practically visit your favorite breakfast place and order “the usual.”
Your child may or may have not had a letter on his or her jersey one year or another, but you still had the extreme satisfaction knowing he was still a team leader.
The relief you felt before every Halloween because you know you had a ready-made costume, all thanks to the countless practice and game jerseys lying around. The best part was that the kids would collaborate and do it together, forging a “band of brothers” year after year.
We’d pass the time with other parents between tournament games by playing "what's the coldest rink you've ever been to?" There are quite a few to choose from!! You would head to the hotel pool to sit on a lounge chair and watch your kids burn off even more energy. Moreover, it was certainly nice to get out of the cold for a just few hours.
And today… You can look down at all those wide-eyed 4 year olds, toppling onto the ice in their first Tyke Fest, then look up at your Bantam child and wonder where all the time went.
A Hockey Mom's Enduring Memories
This spring marked the end of an era, the end of a fun and interesting excursion called youth hockey. Our son Sean finished his second year as a Bantam Travel player, thus over a decade of memories on-ice and off-ice have been flooding, or perhaps icing over, in my mind.
So, fellow Hockey Moms and Dads…do you remember when... the first year he laced his own skates, then the time came when he said, “I can do it all by myself!”
 |
| Sean as a Tyke |
We waited in line quite patiently for his skates to get sharpened. While waiting, we strategically planned the next time his skates needed sharpening, so we could be first in line at the hockey shop the second it opened. His first time he was checked, scary or what? The first clean check HE performed on another player, and you felt some strange satisfaction known as "payback." He’d forget a glove, a helmet, or a skate before a game...nothing major!! We boiled mouth guards for that "custom fit," which the kids all chew to smithereens anyway.
They played Knee hockey in the hotel hallways--until the security guard sent them away. Parents talked in the hotel hallways until the wee hours of the morning--until the security guard sent them away. The moms would plan carpools each week to and from practices and games, often a part-time job in itself but well worth the effort. Your first whiff of hockey equipment left you breathless. For some reason, the kids could never smell it. You visited the opponents’ towns so frequently, you could practically visit your favorite breakfast place and order “the usual.”
Your child may or may have not had a letter on his or her jersey one year or another, but you still had the extreme satisfaction knowing he was still a team leader.
The relief you felt before every Halloween because you know you had a ready-made costume, all thanks to the countless practice and game jerseys lying around. The best part was that the kids would collaborate and do it together, forging a “band of brothers” year after year.
You hoped there was a defibulator nearby because you were about to witness his very first tournament-championship-shootout-goal attempt and your heart raced like never before. The term "reinventing the wheel" to this Hockey Mom is year after year of working at the all-important snack bar. You may have asked yourself, “Hmm...how does that slushie machine work again?” You would put your kids to work and try to make it “educational” by having them make change. All that while hoping to remember how to refill that blasted cappuccino machine if it ran out.
We’d pass the time with other parents between tournament games by playing "what's the coldest rink you've ever been to?" There are quite a few to choose from!! You would head to the hotel pool to sit on a lounge chair and watch your kids burn off even more energy. Moreover, it was certainly nice to get out of the cold for a just few hours.
And today… You can look down at all those wide-eyed 4 year olds, toppling onto the ice in their first Tyke Fest, then look up at your Bantam child and wonder where all the time went.
 |
| Sean as a Bantam |
By Caroline Stanistreet
Camillus, New York
Monday, April 15, 2013
A Hockey Mom Reviews : MoGo In Our Lives
A Hockey Mom Reviews : MoGo In Our Lives: I often tell you about MoGo Flavored Mouthguards, but they are honestly really tasty! Yes that is funny to say that mouthguards for Hockey a...
A Hockey Mom Reviews : LUGZ FOR THE BOYS OF HOCKEY
A Hockey Mom Reviews : LUGZ FOR THE BOYS OF HOCKEY: My boys are in hockey clothing, morning, noon and night! I want them to look cleaned up and pulled together no matter where we are headed an...
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Taking an Ice Break this summer? Don't Sweat it!
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| Sophia at a summer hockey clinic |
Time for an Ice Break?
Now that the season is over, are you giving hockey a rest? It can be tempting to have your kids play a sport that they're good at year round and sign them up for summer leagues. Perhaps you fear you're holding them back, or worry the other kids on the team will surpass them come next season.
Fueling our children's passion for hockey is one thing. But experts say we also need to be careful not to burn them out.
The Bigger Picture
Fulton PE teacher and longtime coach Kevin Ahern shares a bigger picture with advice on how to keep our kids active and why switching it up can be a good thing.
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| Sophia in goal for one of her first lacrosse games |
" As a physical education teacher, and having coached at every level in USA hockey, high school and college hockey I have had the great fortune of dealing with a vast array of athletes. I have coached those that play for pure recreation as well as those with the dreams of playing at the highest level of hockey. It is my personal feeling that we cannot underestimate the importance of playing multiple sports. At a time when our school yards are no longer filled with children playing after school or on the weekends it is imperative that children as well as young adults participate in multiple athletic experiences. Growing up in Central New York and playing for Oswego Minor Hockey I can tell you that I have just as many fond memories playing street hockey out on the snow covered roads for countless hours, or driving through games on the way to the rink, as in the rinks. The guys that I coach today with still have great debates who was better, the east or west side of Oswego. With the opportunities falling to the wayside for whatever societal reasons, we must do our best to provide these unstructured opportunities. Children enter and exit windows of trainability and skill acquisition and to specialize too early can impede this process, not allowing them to reach their full potential athletically. For me, growing up, my plate was filled with a multitude of sport experiences and summers filled with swimming, sailing and unstructured play. I can remember not thinking about hockey much in July and the beginning of August, but then getting that refreshed burning desire to get back on the ice that all truly passionate athletes need. I realize now that this time away provided me the opportunity not only to acquire complementary skill sets, but perhaps just as important, never having to face the feeling of being burnt out from the sport that I love so much. It is through these great life experiences as well as supporting research, that I am a huge proponent of the multi-sport athlete and encourage all of my athletes to be one. As long as they are active, doing something that puts a smile on their face, as a coach I am happy."
Kevin Duy, creator of SportDadHub.com says each different sport his boys play compliments the other in some way. Here are his examples:
*Ice hockey strengthens their legs. Strong legs are important for speed and power in soccer and baseball.
*Soccer helps their footwork and agility which helps them in hockey if the puck gets kicked off their stick and into their skates, they can kick it back to their stick. Footwork is also keep in fielding a baseball.
*Baseball helps their hand/eye coordination. That helps them deflect shots, take one-timers and accept passes in hockey. It helps them judge where a highly kicked soccer ball will come down on the field.
Duy says by playing different sports, they're building and strengthening multiple muscle groups that will eventually help them in every sport as they get older and stronger.
Other than some driveway hockey, it's now one stick per season for Sophia!
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