It reminds me of how important it is to expose kids to as many different activities as possible. Who knows what they will be drawn to? Kudos to any people who work at the grassroots level of any sport. Especially those sports that aren’t considered mainstream in a specific region. That’s a great story, James. Travelling to hockey tournaments is a way of life for many families up here. Girls hockey is also very big up here. It is big in many states down there as well though. The sport has really grown during my lifetime. Although I sense that NHL is still pretty fringe in the U.S. when compared with big three.
Those sounds and smells you described are very accessible to me as well. I have an additional sensory experience. We used to have an organized outdoor league that I played in growing up. One year I had a coach who smoked a pipe in the bench area while we played (although there wasn’t an actual bench). To this day any time that I smell tobacco on a cold day I am immediately transported to my time playing hockey.
A related bit from comedian Jim Gaffigan on youth hockey tournaments in Canada. I laughed pretty hard when I first heard it. It starts at the 30 second mark if you’re interested:
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"It's nice to be nice to the nice." Frank Burns
