“
At the moment you are no longer an observing, reflecting being; you have ceased to be aware of yourself; you exist only in that quiet, steady thrill that is so unlike any excitement that you have ever known.”~ May Sinclair
Ughh!!! Five days longer. And in those five days will come the beginning of the 2011-12 sled hockey season. My team will hit the ice running, or umm… sledding.
I’ve been looking forward to this for a very long time. The summer was brutal and any kind of sessions WOULD have been great. But it didn’t happen. I’m also reminded that I missed out on the second half of the season because I got sick with pneumonia back last March, and never recovered strong enough to get back on the ice for the previous season. I believe that in 2011, I was only on the ice twice in the month of February, and I missed so much- including a surprise birthday gathering that my head coach at the time had planned because one hockey session landed on my birthday this year back in January.
But I’m healthy now and can get back on the ice. However strength and conditioning is another issue. With all the heat we had during the summer, being drained like that of energy didn’t exactly keep me in shape.
Nonetheless, I am so freakin’ fired up that I cannot stand it any longer. These next few days are going to drive me crazy!! Now I am understanding that this season, we will have new leadership on the ice. I do not know the people personally but others on the team do. So I think it will be interesting to see how things go.
And I am understanding that the team received a pretty large grant this year. Actually, all of the teams in the league did. So what does it mean for the team? We TRAVEL.
Ohhhh yeahhhhhh buddy!!
Throughout the season, we’ll be going to different cities in the state to play everyone in the league. Yes, we’ll get our asses kicked on the ice… but that’s not the important thing. The majority of the excitement within that is that the team has been wanting to travel and play for such a long time.
It is unfortunate that since I started playing, we’ve lost some players. It was all over their disgruntled attitude that the team “wasn’t going anywhere”. They too, wanted to travel and play. But because we were not doing that, they left the team. It is too bad that they didn’t stick it out and got the practice, because now we are going to do exactly what they were whining to do. And they are no longer participating on the team in any way.
We even have our own jerseys now. A nice logo on the front and everything. Something I personally slaved for over eight months to get done. The people that left, also wanted that too.
Oh well. I’m not going to focus on what was, and get down to business on what can be, and what will be. Our first travel date is the 19th of November. Not a lot of time to get prepared, but hey- we’re doing it!!
This season will be my fourth season playing for the team. I was named co-assistant captain of the team last season, and the season before that, I scored my first goal in an actual competition. Since then, I’ve scored well over 100 of them. The person that was counting them all from week to week lost count at that point. So it is more, but nobody knows how many. Scoring Powerhouse, anyone?!?
Last season, the team was looking up to me for a lot, both on and off the ice. And I suppose it was okay. I honestly have to admit that I love playing sledge hockey (or sled hockey as it is known in the USA. You know how we gotta do things differently all of the time!).
Sure, I’ve have had my minor injuries. Luckily, nothing too serious or major. It still IS hockey after all. The sadist within says that I am looking forward to more. Nothing more exciting then running into someone with the puck and knocking them over and coming in for the steal. Or slamming others into the wall. You think AB hockey is exciting? You should check out your local team in your area.
There are teams all over the country. From Sacramento and San Jose, California all the way across the other side of the country in Florida and of course up north through the Great Lakes and into New England.
Watch a game or two, then you tell me which became more exciting! I challenge you.
But hey, I’m just totally stoked that I’m going to get this chance to get back on the ice after being off of it for so long. Leading the team during scrimmages and practices, and finally getting that chance again to go up against someone with the scoreboard turned on.
Facebook Fan Page to the team that I am on, in the list of links on the left side.
Dambreaker 