Coach Heldt's Notes

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Being a hockey dad

Today was, or rather still is Father’s Day. I got up with the intention of going out with Ty for donuts. Sunday often is donut run day at our house. When I asked Tyler if he was ready to go, he replied no. Refusing to go out for donuts is quite unheard of in our family. I was puzzled and thought maybe he wasn’t feeling too well. We have been going out with Nick driving the truck on his learners permit while I sit in the passenger seat explaining the finer points of defensive driving. The reason he didn’t want to go out and get donuts was because he and Nic had gone out already with Erika and picked up donuts and the Sunday paper to give to me as a Father’s Day gift with a cup of hot coffee and a brand new fishing license. Now that’s pretty cool in my book and started the day off very nicely indeed. I called my dad and wished him a happy father’s day and talked for a while. In fact I had to redial quite a few times because I kept losing the signal on my cell phone. I got a little fishing in and had a very nice day. Devin called after he got out of work and we talked about lacrosse and new cars and then he was off to play lacrosse with a few friends. Father’s Day brings back many good memories for which I am very thankful. Memories remind me of how fortunate I have been as a son and as a father myself. Hockey and lacrosse have been a huge part of our lives as our boys have grown up. Most of our time together has involved one or the other. The world has changed a lot over the past nineteen years since I became a father. The snow and the ice have been a comforting and common theme over those years. It doesn’t seem all that long ago when I was riding with my father through the wind and the snow up route 12 to Clayton for a hockey game with an old army duffle bag full of gear in an old Ford Falcon wondering if we’d even make it there alive. We did make it of course because somehow my father had navigated through the whiteouts and snow drifts in a two-wheel car with no snow chains and made it to the rink in time to lace up for a game. Crazy you say? All hockey parents I know are a little goofy when it comes to risking life and limb for sixty minutes of pure hockey fun. Sitting there in the car with my toes freezing I had all the faith in the world in my dad as I watched him squint out through the windshield navigating by pure hockey instinct. Steering seemed somewhat vague as we moved farther and farther into the white nothingness knowing that somewhere out there we would either drive into the St Lawrence or catch a glimpse of the rink between the swirling snow. I think of those rides as I head out to a game with my sons. I wonder if any of them will remember their early years of hockey and everything that revolves around it. The look of the old rinks, the hot chocolate at the concession stand, or any of the things that will probably change over the next decade. I’ll always remember that we did all this together as a family. I’ve enjoyed being a coach very much, but I’ve really loved being a hockey dad. To all the Lacrosse fathers and hockey dads out there – Happy Fathers Day!

No comments: