Hockey moms sacrifice, support and accommodate.
We sacrifice our own personal lives for the sport our child has chosen to play. We arrive at cold ice rinks usually one hour before every game and nearly an hour before each practice. We ensure our child has the necessary "tools"--skates sharpened, equipment packed, mouthguard ready, and water or Gatorade when he or she comes off the ice. We struggle with family dinners, often having to visit a "quality drive-thru" (do they really exist?) after homework is finished in order to make a practice or game. We miss our favorite TV shows (thank goodness for DVR's), miss nights out with our girls, and dedicate any shopping money to equipment needs. Date night happens at a hockey rink...or a quick dinner during the week while our child is on the ice at practice.
We support our player and his/her teammates. We carpool. We passionately cheer for our team and raise our arms to call penalties when it seems the refs just didn't see what happened. We fully recognize that the refs don't see us (or choose not to), but it is just instinctive, like grabbing a tissue to wipe our child's nose. We are always happy to see players who have moved on to other teams--anxious to ask them how they are doing, wish them well, and see their parents! And every time any player goes down after hitting the boards, we cringe and hold our breathe, hoping he/she is ok. We buy all sorts of fundraising items--cookie dough, pizzas, ad book space--all in the name of supporting our team. We work very hard to implement the 24-hour rule...and only complain to our spouses (or fellow hockey moms) about something we disagree with. We volunteer for committees within our hockey club. We create banners for tournaments, signs for hotel doors of players, and are excellent with glue guns.
We accommodate our child's needs, as well as the team's needs. We take vacation days from work to attend tournaments. We bake cookies (or visit the bakery at our grocery store) for the players' early and late practices. We locate restaurants out of town and plan team dinners. We are willing to help our team manager (almost always a fellow hockey mom) in whatever needs to be done. And we usually miss a Thanksgiving dinner with family because we may be out of town or playing a game or two on Thanksgiving Day.
Hockey moms earn their title...we have jewelry, photobuttons, travel mugs, and clothing that support our player. We proudly share stories of our hockey player's and team's success (and we know the audience isn't always interested, but our kids are amazing!).
Some hockey moms do take on the additional task of being a "team mom" or "manager". These moms can be a coach's lifesaver...or nightmare. And that is completely up to the coach. Treat us like we are "just moms, who don't know what we are talking about", and we'll just as happily let you do it all yourself--floundering when it comes to the administrative items we are so good it. But respect us for all we do for our player and team--and we will do anything for you.
Players who have "drive-thru" moms that don't take the time to watch a practice or game are simply just that..."Drive-thru Moms". We all have busy lives--some even juggling more than one child in more than one sport--yet a hockey mom always seems to figure out ways to make it to a game. We sometimes miss seeing our friends, working out, or enjoying a nice quiet dinner...but in the end, we wouldn't have it any other way. Hockey moms never stop being hockey moms. It's something that becomes part of our DNA--and usually develops us into hockey grandmas down the road.
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| Some of my favorite hockey moms of all times...miss these gals! |
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