Street Hockey Beginnings

We live in hockey country.

Three of the kids on our block play very serious competitive hockey. Spring and fall find games of hockey in the street. Although the main players are the kids who live on the street, there are often fathers who join in.

Andy and I are not particularly sports-minded. Our hobbies are creative and artistic. Our physical exercise tends to be solitary activities (biking, mountain climbing, yoga, working out at the gym, dancing) rather than competitive team sports. We haven't enrolled Patrick in many sports activities as he finds them challenging and we have been unable to find teams where he would be rewarded for trying hard. We are being dragged into sports by our two youngest boys. William in particular has natural athletic ability, and picks things up just by watching other children. Michael enjoys ball games, but they don't come quite so easily to him.

Last weekend, one of our neighbors invited William, Michael and Jocelyn to borrow mini hockey sticks and balls and hit the balls around in their driveway. To say that it was a huge hit might be an understatement. They didn't want to return the borrowed equipment.

The following day, Andy and Patrick bought mini hockey sticks for everybody. We got the four kids out on our driveway with sticks and balls and our mini soccer goal. Two other kids joined in. There was no organization beyond a vague encouragement for Patrick to actually practice shooting on goal and a safety patrol of adults collecting balls that rolled into the street.

It was a swirl of balls and children accompanied by squeals of glee.

Since then, the weather has included a lot of rain and there has not been another opportunity to get out and play. William, in particular, is very upset about this and has been asking to go out and play hockey several times a day.

We'll have to see what the fall weather is like, to see how much we get out on the street. But, there is no question that we will be joining the crowds on the street playing hockey in the spring.

The spirit of Hockey has infiltrated our lives.