The time, money, and intensity involved in travel sports can give it a bad name. But driving home from a three-day weekend hockey tournament feeling pretty tired and spent, I can still say it’s worth it.
These are where the memories are made.
Watching my son out there in all his glory doing what he loves on the ice with his teammates from all different towns with whom he has formed bonds, there’s no place we would rather be.
It’s not just about being on the ice or about the kids; it’s also about downtime.
From swimming in the hotel pool to exploring a new city and sleeping right down the hall from your buddies, this is where it’s at. It’s also an immersive experience for the parents, who have cheered side by side all season, chatted during multiple weeknight practices, and shared many jokes and memes in the group chat.
There is a sense of camaraderie, a feeling that we are all in this together.
We also have such a feeling of team pride as we are there to represent our little neck of the woods. And with everything going on in the world, it can feel really good to have a weekend that is only about this team and this sport, away from all of our other responsibilities and distractions during any other weekend.
It’s about my younger son becoming an honorary teammate for the weekend, getting right in there for all the non-ice action. It’s about the little sister of a teammate becoming an unofficial toddler mascot for the team. And it’s about enjoying a celebratory dinner and laughing with our hockey family, win or lose.
