Youth benefit from hockey experience

Will Hockey Day in Canada be the saviour for the down-trodden town of Stephenville? In the short run it has helped to alleviate some of the stress of everything that has happened over the last couple of months. The event will have a psychological impact on the town’s youth that are involved in minor hockey. Many children that have been facing the prospects of having to leave home with their families and leave behind friends and relatives now have been given a boost by the interjection of funds into the minor hockey program.

I played minor hockey for years, and it was a great experience. If a few kids that didn’t have the opportunity before now get the chance to be involved in something that they love, then the whole event was a success. The whole concept behind the event for me is a celebration of our national pastime/obsession. Hockey in my mind has transcended the status of being a game. It is much more then a game to a lot people in this country, and this day is a celebration of that.

Hockey has been one of the ways I have bonded with my friends, my father and my brother growing up. Some of my greatest memories with my father have been going to the arena and watching games on TV. He hasn’t played hockey for years, but he still spends days at the arena in our hometown watching games. He was also a huge support and helped out as much as possible during my hockey career.

My mother isn’t much of a sports fan, but she does understand how much the game means to the rest of us, and has herself spent many hours freezing her extremities while cheering for her two sons and being dragged to endless games by my father. I hung up my skates a few years ago and took up more leisurely and less physically demanding sports such as golf, but I am still a die-hard hockey fan.

I greatly support the effort put forth by the volunteers, and the general idea of Hockey Day in Canada. I would support the day becoming a national event, and like to see more involvement from more organizations.