Seven years ago, if you would have told me my baby girl was going to be a hockey player, I would have laughed and told you, “There is no chance!” See, my daughter does not come from a hockey family; we know how to ice skate but never truly learned what hockey was all about. I once wanted to be a part of the inaugural girl’s hockey team in high school but my mother told me no. (Looking back at it now, my mother made the right decision because I would have made a terrible hockey player.) By the time my daughter was born, I had grown to dislike winter, cold temperatures, and especially ice, which truly made me question why I chose to live in the north.
That all changed around my daughter’s fifth birthday. We received a flyer for free learn-to-skate lessons through Piedmont Hockey. Of course, my adventurous child asked to give skating a try. My parenting motto has always been to give her the opportunity to try any and everything. But this was outside my comfort zone. With much hesitation and many discussions, we bought her skates and that is where our journey began.
Our Hockey Adventures Begin
The Piedmont outdoor rinks are a block away from our home, and I remember her begging for me to take her there almost every night. She could see the lights, hear the skates gliding over the ice, and most importantly, she heard the laughter coming from the rink. She started going there regularly, falling often and getting back up. She was improving every time she stepped on the ice. She did not give up nor did she complain, even in the snow, wind, and negative temperatures. Once she got the hang of skating, she begged for a hockey stick and for us to to sign her up for the mite team. We agreed.
Being a mite is the best thing that has happened to her thus far. She learned more on the rink than she did in a classroom. She learned what commitment truly meant; there were some weeks she was scheduled to be on the ice five or six days a week. If a player or two missed a game, it threw off the chemistry of the team. So without complaints, she went. She learned how to be supportive and how to be a teammate, not only in the midst of a game, but when a teammate was going through a hard time. She learned how to offer him/her some praise.
She learned that her body could do a lot more than she ever thought it could. She learned about who she was and that she can truly do anything she puts her mind to. She built more confidence in that first year of playing than she had during any other activity. Most importantly, she fell in love with the game. She loves playing it, being a part of a team, and she loves cheering for each and every team. I can envision her learning more and more as time goes on and I can only hope she continues to love the game year after year.
Full-Fledged Hockey Mom
Today, I proudly call myself a hockey mom. There is no place I’d rather be than at the local arena seeing the improvement that each child has made in less than a couple of months or years. I love watching the bounce in my daughter’s glide after she scores a goal. It’s truly an amazing feeling knowing that it’s now her under the lights, the sound is her skates gliding over the ice, and the laughter is coming from her because she has found “her thing.” Hockey has become a lifestyle in our home and we are glad to be a part of the hockey community. Whether it’s a sport, theater, music, or art, nothing beats watching your child succeed.
Crystal Westberg is the mother of one 7 year old daughter, Alexandra. She was raised in Owatonna, MN, went to UMD and moved to Duluth permanently in 2012. Crystal is a Billing Specialist with St Luke’s Clinics. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, spending time outside, writing, trying new things and cheering for the Bulldogs.
