Trying Moms Hockey

Moms hockey came about from a simple flyer that I saw while at a son of a relative’s hockey game.  Of course, that started the investigative process of finding out if a person like me could try.

Ironically, I was more nervous about playing moms hockey than trying the luge.  I don’t have amazing skating skills and I’m personally not a huge fan of playing in full contact sports myself.  I’ve never been in a fight, can’t skate backwards, or cross my feet over each other.

But why would I let those minor details get in the way of a new experience?

I saw a segment on GMA a few years ago featuring average moms who played hockey.  I admired them for doing something I didn’t think I would have the guts to try.  Looks like trying roller derby has given me a new confidence to try just about anything despite my skill level.

Why not? Just makes life more interesting.

I found out that not everyone who plays is a mom or even married and the skill level ranges from beginner/beginner to used to play for a team.  They had me a beginner/beginner.

I recruited two friends, who both had family members actively involved in hockey.  One of them had access to equipment we could borrow.  I had no idea how much stuff hockey players put on.  Protective pads for every part of your body and even garters to keep up your socks.  The uniform isn’t figure flattering, so why didn’t I eat more junk before I came?

It felt like an eternity just getting all of our equipment on.  I felt like I completed a workout by just getting dressed.  Now the challenge would be moving with all this stuff on!

We joined the other “moms” on the ice for practice.  We began with skating drills to the other side, followed by skating and stopping on the different line drills.

I was pretty much last one every time.  We tried skating and jumping on the ice followed by balancing on the opposite foot.  We got to try skating down the ice with the puck.

Then we moved on to turns. That’s where I got an “e” for effort and we’ll leave it at that.  I discovered i was the only one who couldn’t skate backwards that day.  The coach was so encouraging and just keep reminding us that the stuff he was asking us to do was hard and to just try our best.

I was really excited that we were going to scrimmage that night.  We were divided by the color of our jerseys.  My first task was trying to hop over the wall.  I’ve seen it happen a lot from working at Dallas Stars games in college.  Unlike me, those guys were pros and I just didn’t want to wipe out for my big debut on the ice.  I found that hugging the wall worked even though I looked ridiculous.

Once I got on the ice it hit me that a puck could take out three middle school years of dental work and I didn’t know how to stop fast if i was charging toward a puck.  (Maybe I should have said yes to the face mask)

I had a close one when my friend almost accidentally hit me in the face when we were both going for a puck during the scrimmage. Even though I had everything not going in my favor, I was still having so much fun.

Maybe the danger of potentially losing my teeth gave me an adrenaline rush when my opponent would wiz by me.  Overall, my friends and I had a great time and we want to try it again sometime.

If you want to try moms hockey and you live in Grand Rapids check out the flyer above and  click here for a schedule. Check out this article if you want to know more about what equipment you will need. I didn’t find a national search for moms teams but you can google your state to see if there is on in your area,