This stems from a follow up to one of my last pieces "Why Hire a Hockey Player?" and it's mainly because of my brother.
"Yeah, but everything you said can be put down to any sport".
True.
But, this is why the hockey player is different.
My parents are from probably the craziest non-hockey backgrounds ever: Ireland and India. Not your traditional hotbeds. So finding the game via watching the Mighty Ducks was a blessing and perhaps peculiar.
But, I am going to tell you why hockey taught me different things from my friends who grew up in other sports.
Patience - When I was three years old I watched the Mighty Ducks. I was hooked and pumped and all I wanted to do was hit the ice. So we did and I got to try out skating. Just skating. I couldn't play hockey because I didn't know how to skate. I didn't have any skates, equipment, knowledge or any coaching. So, luckily I annoyed my parents to the point where every Saturday they would take me skating for lessons.
It wasn't until three years later, at seven, was I able to join the team and really start practicing. I had to go through the process of learning to skate and learning hockey basics before I could even try-out.
This isn't so common for any other sport.
Time management - Ok, this ones the best. Because, I used to wake my parents up at 4am to go to practice. I don't even think I ever set an alarm for those Sunday mornings when I was seven/eight/nine and so on. I was the one making sure I was up early enough for practice and got to the rink with plenty of time. Game days were a nightmare, all because of me, as I would be saying that "we need to go or we'll be late".
We never were.
But, it was because of time management skills I learnt. I would print off AA maps with differing routes and ETA journey times to make sure we were timed to perfection.
This isn't so common for any other sport.
Resilience - So hockey is a little different, well in the UK anyway, as we don't have rinks all over the place. So if you get cut (I wrote something here on this) you have pretty much nowhere else to go - or you have to travel far away. You have to resilient and extremely thick skinned in order to improve and dust yourself down.
This isn't so common for any other sport.
Selfless - This is one that not many other sports can teach you. A quote that we used to have plastered across the walls in Guildford was, "It's amazing what can be accomplished when no one cares who got the credit". I entered the organisation at the age of seven and remember reading this quote and what it meant.
It meant everything.
To this day, (as weird as it maybe with my own site and all), that I would rather other people get the credit. I remember playing games that were probably my best individual games - but I was so pissed off because we lost. It didn't matter how I played; it only matters if we win. And, that's true for everyone in hockey.
An assist is the exactly same point as a goal. There's a reason for that.
This isn't so common for any other sport.
So in defence of hockey, it's apparent to me that hockey isn't common. The game is played on ice. The game requires all sorts of skills and needs. The game is played late at night and early in the morning.
But, what makes the sport the most uncommon is the small nature of it. You meet any hockey player or fan and you'll instantly hit it off - you will be the best of buds.
It doesn't have to be the most popular sport to thrive. It's a game that thrives off uniqueness and hard work.
And, that is why the hockey player is different.
Please comment, share, like or email whatever you like. I'm not the best writer but every little feedback means a lot to me as I look to improve to deliver better content for you guys!