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Being a Hockey Mom Isn’t For the Weak of Heart
What I would tell other parents before signing their kid up for the sport
While growing up in my small hometown deep in the Adirondack Park of upstate New York, I was surrounded by the culture of hockey. Not 45 minutes from my small town, was Lake Placid — home to the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Games. If you have ever heard of the “Miracle on Ice” or the 1981 movie starring Kurt Russell, then you know what a big deal it was in the world of professional sports.
In case you aren’t familiar, the United State Men’s Hockey team beat the heavily favored and formidable team from the Soviet Union with a final score of 4–3. During the age of the Cold War, this was a big deal!
Needless to say, hockey is a big deal where I’m from.
Growing up, I played basketball and softball, as did my older sister. By the time my little brother got around to playing sports, he followed our lead and became a very talented and decorated baseball player within our school district.
Hockey was never even on my radar, though my high school had a newly formed hockey program in which a couple of girls from my school played. As fate would have it, I would end up marrying one of the boys on the inaugural team, though that wouldn’t happen until I was…
