2008-09 Blizzard Season Wrap Up
This has been my 13th year of coaching youth
hockey. I started out in 1997 with my Blizzard squirt team that
eventually went on to win a couple of championships over the 2 or 3
years they stayed together. Being pretty new to not only youth hockey
but to youth sports in general I was in for some eye opening
experiences, some horrific, but most memorable.Andrew's
1st Blizzard season came in 1998-99. Some of the teams we played were
the Tampa Bay Stars with Troy Nelson & Jack Boardman, The Bradenton
Blades with Matt Meyer & The Scorpions with Cory MacDonald. These
were just some of the teams that made up youth hockey in the Tampa area
at that time. I have seen many of these young boys grow up before my
eyes and I have to say how proud I am to have been involved for over a
decade with some of them.
This
season, as the 1990's age out of youth hockey, I can say has been the
most rewarding of any I have ever been involved in. As such it will
also be the hardest to see go. The boys exceeded even my expectations
this year.
Although
we lost a heartbreaker Saturday night in the district finals in OT, we
fought to the end. Watching the game from the stands made it even more
stressful for me. Seeing the boys in the locker room after the game
was over is something that I will not forget anytime soon. As I
entered into the locker room I looked around and saw 18 boys with tears
in their eyes exhausted from the battle they just came from. It was
apparent to me that the emotion was coming from not each boy but from A
TEAM that just left everything they had on the ice. These young men
wanted to win, not for themselves but for the man that sat next to them
in the locker room.
Sometimes we,
as parents, forget the big picture, forget why we came to the dance in
the first place. As I was standing there trying to find the right
words of praise I received a text. The text said "I'm sorry Coach it's
my fault, it would have been a different game if I was there. I'm
Sorry". That came from Jeremy Gourdine, a warrior, not unlike the
other 18 sitting in front of me. Even he felt like he let his team
down, up in Canada with a seperated shoulder and torn nerves in his arm
from the state finals he thought he hadn't given enough to his team
mates. It was than that I knew what to say. I realized that in May
2008, when I started choosing this team, there were boys, that although
they played together in the same rink for a decade, didn't know the
person each of them were. Some actually used the word "hate" to
describe others they played against. Looking around there was no
finger pointing going on, no blame was passed from this one to that
one, they lost as a team. Losing is never a lot of fun, but it is an
important part of growing up. It teaches you how to compete, how to
win the next time. We as parents tend to overlook the team effort
& focus on our own child's time on the ice, a natural thing to do.
But as I said before, take a closer look at what was accomplished this
year and you will see 19 friendships that have been forged in steel
through 56 hard fought games. Friendships that will last a lot longer
than the sting of one lost game.
And
isn't that what the objective was from the very start, so many years
ago when you signed him up for mites the very first time?
I
can say this was a successful season because of our overall record,
43-12-1 or our 301 goals for & 161 goals against or the 3
Championships we won along the way, but what made this season so
successful was that 19 boys came away with friendships that will last a
lifetime.
I didn't say one word about the lost game that night, I didn't think I needed to.
I feel privileged that I was able to watch it from where I did, each parent should feel the same.
Thank you to Joe Loiacano & Jim Boardman for helping to keep the sanity.
Thank you to our own team medic, Joe Garst, you really don't leave anyone behind.
Thank you to all the parents that found the time & made the effort to help some of the kids that needed the help.
Most
of all, thanks to all the boys, besides the great hockey, you guys
really made me laugh, except for the 17 penalties against the Checkers
Friday night!!!
As I always say "The Days Go Slow But The Years Go Fast"
Coach Larry Silvers
April 2009
