The hockey season really is over now. The jerseys have been turned in and, in fact, the clean out process starts today at the hockey shack. It'll be torn down in the coming weeks to make way for a new one next year.
The other final wrap-up detail? The end-of-season party. That was Thursday night at the Heritage hockey rink. It included an hour of open skating, which the kids made the most of.
There was a lot of skating, but very little actual hockey. Sydney's favorite part? When one of her coaches started a conga line.
This woman is a superhero, pulling this many kids on skates.
Sydney was having so much fun that when Champ the Bulldog mascot came out on the ice, Sydney decided to stay with Coach Jill.
And where was AJ all this time? Mock fighting with his buddy Gino. Because if you can't "drop gloves" with you friends, who can you do it with?
Every so often, an adult would skate over to see what was the trouble. And then they'd skate away rolling their eyes and grinning.
AJ had the advantage, because he was wearing all his pads.
After the skating time, the kids ate pizza. And then it came time for awards. The coaches said a few words, and then handed out trophies and goody bags to each of the kids.
For Sydney, it was her first trophy ever. And it was a big deal. The child who's been saying for the last month that she doesn't want to play hockey anymore, who would have quit at the beginning of February except that she didn't want to be called a quitter, who's been saying she wants to be in Girl Scouts and dance, after baseball and soccer, who wants to do everything but hockey... has now had a change of heart.
A week and a half break from hockey practice, followed by an hour of fun skating with friends, topped off with her very own trophy... that's all it took. But I suspect it was mostly the trophy. Sydney walked back to where I was sitting, proudly clutching her award. She crawled into my lap and whispered, "Can I play hockey again next year?"
And just as I told her each time during the last month when she said she didn't want to play anymore, I answered, "Let's just wait until fall and see what you want to do then."
Two last pictures that illustrate the difference between five year olds and eight year olds. Here's Sydney's team posing with Champ.
And here's AJ's team:
And now I'm going to enjoy a hockey free weekend. Except... oh that's right... now it's Jeff's turn to play in a tournament.
It really never ends.
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