Team Trials

You know, I have a huge soft spot for kids. It probably stems from being an oldest child and having a big part in raising some of the younger siblings. And of course this all stems into my love for my hockey team.

Every week something happens at ball hockey, either one of the kids acts out, they tell us something that's just out of the blue, or I get a chance to really level with them and have a good conversation. Last Monday was no exception.

Us coaches always meet after the games to chat, brainstorm on what to do for our teams, talk about the games and see where we can help each other out. This past Monday was a jaw-dropper.

One of my fave players, Joe, had been looking sad all evening and I asked his coaches about it. He was usually not like that, usually he was playing hard, a bit cheeky and had a smile. The coaches didn't know anything, but the manager told us this story:

Joe's birthday had been the week before and at the last minute his mom had invited a couple friends to come and play at the Youth Center. It turned out that only one friend showed up. The dad brought the friend in, gave Joe his gift, left him there to play and came back half an hour later. When he came back he saw that his son was the only friend there, he snatched Joe's gift from him (already unwrapped), grabbed his son and left. Joe sat in his chair, obviously stunned, and cried.

Joe comes from a pretty good family, considering the other families we deal with at the Youth Center, but it's obvious he doesn't get the attention he needs. We're not exactly sure what it is, but there's something lacking there. So to see something like this happen to him is super hard. It's got to be so traumatizing!

As soon as we heard this, we all turned to each other "You free next Monday night?", "Yep.", "Good, I'll bring the cake, you bring the balloons. Invite the team, we're having a party for Joe". We're going to surprise him, it's going to be so awesome! We're going to set up a game of blacklight ball hockey, watch a movie and enjoy some cake! I seriously can't wait to see his face, he's such a sweet kid with a really great heart.

Monday night was a hard one for me. I coach ball hockey for 9 - 11 year olds at a Christian youth center. My husband usually comes with me, but for the past few weeks he's been tied up doing Income Tax work for his Grandpa's accounting business. I don't mind going to The Ark (the name of the youth center) by myself, but sometimes it's pretty overwhelming.

This particular Monday night was tough. The team was playing amazing, it was so obvious that they had improved on their skills and they were really giving it their all. For some reason though, they weren't winning. The opposing team has several star players that play defensive and offensive really well so that may have had something to do with it. The boys were getting frustrated, which I can understand, but one player was taking it the worst. Our goalie is always tough on himself even though he's the best goalie in the league. As soon as we start losing he blames himself and wants to give up. It's so sad to see! Especially when I see his dad encouraging this behavior and acting in the exact same way. It's hard for me to watch because there's no reason for it.

I don't understand why people can be so negative. Obviously, I have my bad days, I have days where I could just sit and bawl or I get super frustrated with people or situations. But for the most part, there's always a little voice in the back of my mind saying "It's going to work out, just keep smiling, you're doing good". I don't understand why or how people can just give up. How can some people just slump down and completely give up? "Oh well, it's the second period and we're behind, might as well give up and go home"...why?? There's still one and a half periods to go!

I try my hardest to encourage these boys, to let them know that I see their improvement and that they're doing good...but in some cases it's just not enough. They have too much negative input at home.

I feel so sorry for some of these kids, their parents don't even give them a chance. I'm hoping, as much as I can't see the results right now, our positive attitudes will help them as they grow up. I hope that they can look back one day and see that we meant what we said, that they were amazing kids with huge potential and that if they just try, they will be successful. Because they can, I honestly believe that.