What has hockey given me?

This is a question that I’ve pondered on and off for a long time. Maybe part of it is that during conversations with family and non-hockey playing friends I often get asked why do I still play, despite my rather lengthy list of injuries and the commitment hockey takes.

 

As a player, I’ve lived by the ethos that I will do anything that the team asks of me and commit myself 100% to the season. Before having kids it was easy to make that commitment and now, where I still make it, I always factor in the desires of the family. As long as they are happy for me to carry on playing and putting that level of commitment in, then I’ll always sign. Additionally I ask myself if I have the spark and the desire to put in that level of commitment. If I can’t give 100% of myself, physically and emotionally, then there’s no point me wasting my coaches time, my teammates time and my time. Yes, during the season there are times when you want to say “fuck it” and give up, but there’s always been a desire to give two fingers to those thoughts and battle on.

 

Hockey is a sport that takes a lot. An awful lot. Not only is there the games and trainings during the season, but there’s also the conditioning work that takes place during the summer, during the season and any functions that the team has for fans and so on (OK I don’t attend many nights out, because I’m old and ugly and need all the beauty sleep I can get). Hockey takes up your weekends from September to April. The season literally consumes you and your free time and mind.

 

But what has hockey actually given back to me?

 

I’ll try and look at this from beyond just winning and friendships, though the first thing hockey has given me are the friendships, but it has given deeper meaning to it as well.

 

There’s nothing quite like sharing the comradery of a team and the fan-base that the team has. During the years I’ve played, I’ve made friends with people I probably wouldn’t have hung-out with and have discovered great personalities through the game. This in turn has opened me to be more accepting of people and has allowed me to in greater or lesser extent let go of some prejudices that I may have subconsciously held.

 

Hockey has also given me a family. Literally. I met my wife on a team night out when I was playing for the Southampton University team. Since meeting her and ultimately marrying her, we have had two wonderful children and she and the kids have added more meaning to life. But in addition, hockey has given me another family in the community that has been built around the team I play for.

 

Hockey has given me work ethic. The game in itself is honest. If you don’t put the work in, you will find the result on the scoreboard and you’ll feel quite shitty about it and yourself. The same applies to work outside of the rink. The game has taught me a lot about how to approach challenges and how to tolerate stress and disappointment. It has taught me that you keep going until you reach the ultimate goal.

 

It has given me resilience and perseverance: I’ve had a fair few injuries and I’ve persevered through them, always wanting to come back better and stronger. At times it has been difficult, sure, but at the end of the day I’ve learnt to rise above the pain and fight my way back into game shape. Hockey has also given me a higher than average pain threshold. Being able to play a game with a severe disc prolapse, playing a whole season with a fully torn labrum and ruptured bicep tendon takes some guts but you push through it, because you want to help the team win.

 

Additionally the game has taught me about health: About 4 years ago I realised that if I didn’t change the way I trained, the way I ate – and more importantly what I ate – I would not last a year. Since then I have discovered a healthier lifestyle and have managed to cut out many habits I had in the past. Because of hockey, I am now more conscious about the dietary choices I make on a daily basis and the way I listen to my body and maintain it – even if at times it seems like I disregard the body’s warning. I’m not an elite athlete, but I would like to think that I approach training and diet from a more athletic point of view.

 

 

 

Yes, hockey does take and demand a lot of you, but if you look beyond, it does give back an awful lot as well. I consider myself fortunate to be able to play and keep learning more.

Bristol Ice Rink Set To Close; Help us Save It

I was imagining that my first post of 2012 would have been a cheerier one. However, we were told on Thursday at training that our barn is going to be closing down and we, the Pitbulls (and the junior teams, the rec team, the university team and ice skating club) would become homeless at the end of the season.

 

The lease on the rink is running out and the rink is set to be converted into student accommodation. Not that I have anything against students or further education, but the situation is far from ideal. In fact thinking it purely from the hockey point of view, I feel like the people who have put the Pitbulls together and ran the team have had a severe kick to the teeth due to the decision.

 

As I’ve had a chance to reflect on the news for a few days, I have come to realise that the biggest loss of the rink closure is not the loss of hockey, but it is the loss of a place that has become a second home to myself and all my team mates. It could potentially also mean the loss of a group of guys who have become like a second family. We have all sweated and bled on to the ice to provide our fans and supporters with an entertaining night out and we as players have relied on each other. We have experienced highs and lows every week that we turn up for training and suit up, ready to hit the ice. Like I’ve said many times before on this blog, being on the ice is one of the best feelings I can imagine.

 

Beyond hockey  however, I have read and recanted numerous tales from Facebook and Twitter on people’s memories of the rink. I have come to know stories of people who have met the love of their life on the ice, memories of nights spent with friends and most of all, people lamenting the loss of a place to meet up and spend time.

 

As I’m not a native to Bristol and I have only spent two seasons with the Pitbulls, I have only a handful of memories compared to most of the other guys on the team who took their first strides on the ice at the facility. However, the situation sounds all too familiar; when I first arrived in the UK in Southampton to study I was told that the town used to house a rink, but it was torn down (now what stands in its place is a Range Rover and Jaguar dealership) and a new rink was promised by the council. Given that I have been in the UK for 8 years and there’s no new rink in sight (OK the Southampoton rink has been shut for nearly 30 years now) one can understand why the loss of a ice facility is a BIG deal to everyone who uses the facility.

 

In what is the Olympic year for the UK, there has been a lot of discussion about the state of British sports. How can the UK nurture the next sporting talents if facilities for sports of all kinds are being cut down. In a broader scale, the economic downturn has cut funding from many sports and leisure centres that provide both the young and old the opportunity to partake in sports, be it hockey, skating, soccer or boxing. Sports is an enabler. If I didn’t do sports in my youth I wouldn’t have learned valuable social skills and I probably would’ve spent more time than I did out in town partaking in teenage debauchery. Sports taught me a great deal of self discipline and respect to others.

 

However, as I’m trying to look for a silver lining in the news of the rink closing down, I am hopeful that it will not mean the demise of hockey in Bristol. I am hopeful that the powers that be build a new rink that is suitable for hockey and figure skating. Hockey is a growing sport in the UK and I’m sure that all our opponents would agree that there needs to be a team in Bristol. Say what you want about the state of the facility, it’s more fun to play more games than have fewer games on the schedule.

 

As my parting thoughts, I would like to see as many of you readers sign this petition to show your support for the rink. It only takes 30 seconds of your time and we (the people who use the rink) would really appreciate the support: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-ice-rink/

Be sure to also check out the following Facebook Groups and websites: https://www.facebook.com/BristolNeedsARink,

http://www.bristolneedsarink.com