Being a Parent on the Sideline.

I am a parent on the side line watching my children participate in sport.  For me I am a hockey mum. I proudly stand and support my children playing their chosen game.  I love seeing them mature and develop, get stronger and grow their skill base. 

Unfortunately there are times when parents are less than positive on the sideline watching their children.  So this has got me thinking about what my role is as a hockey Mum/ Dad.

So my thoughts are.....

• Be a positive supporter on the sideline not only for my child but players from both teams.  Great play is great play no matter what colour shirt the player is wearing.

• Remember that if my child has not played as well as they might have, they know it.  Sitting in the car being reminded about is not ideal and sure not supportive.

• Celebrate their successes, even the little ones.

• I am not the coach...the coach has that role and never the lines do meet.

Don't you love it when....

I love the fact that my 13 year old daughter is standing in front of me with her pj's on and her hockey stick in her hand doing aerial skills.  I love it too that she went to a clinic with the most amazing Jamie Dwyer, 5 times named worlds best hockey player, got her stick signed.  Now I understand why she says her slightly too short stick is not ready to be given up for a new one.

Long may her interest in sport last. 

I am going there again.....

Next time it is freezing cold, wet and plain old miserable I think that I want to go to  watch my children play hockey here.

 

Now look closely, those red looking lights are not lights but heating.  Yes you read it here.  On the seating......stand for spectators there is over heat heating.  I think of all those very early frosty Saturday mornings and  no heating.  Now DD is playing secondary school hockey we get heating.   

Now to have a word in the ear of the person who writes the draw so they can make this location happen for us every Thursday evening.

Another project done.

I have set a goal this year to get finished all my unfinished digital projects.   This project was one for my daughter.  It is a photo book covering her representative hockey year last year.  This was a book celebrating the things a great team culture can do for young girls.  The positive sporting experience both on and off the field I hope will provide my daughter fabulous insight into how hard work, friendship and respect all can contribute to an unforgettably positive experience.

Best of all I see her taking a look at the book.  I see her smile every time she picks up the book.  I am so glad that I had plenty of photos to make this book the special project it is.

 

 

 

Winter sport is here

Here we are in the middle of a very warm Autumn and winter sport teams have been selected with first practice for Andres hockey team tonight.  With the balmy evening temperature of 23 Celsius it is reasonable to say that things could be worse, especially the weather in the middle of the season.

For me though, as for all hockey, rugby, soccer, netball mums and dads it is just the beginning of a schedule that includes both mornings and evening practises.  On the road by 5.45 am twice a week and not home until 8pm once a week. Games on the evenings of school days twice and Saturday morning.  That does not include anything else in the schedule such as music, speech and drama, or the logistics of organising baby sitters for when my husband is away. 

Needless to say I think I officially classify as a taxi driver whose car knows its way around the Auckland without my help, whose car is sometimes a place to catch a few moments of sleep.  Then there are the moments where the car is the place where breakfast is eaten occasionally and dinner on other occasions.

It is exhausting for us all but ultimately I love that my children love playing their hockey.  I love that they get a sense of achievement from the game, they learn life skills from both being in the winning team and loosing team.

So well done all you mum (and dads).  I hope your children love their sport as much as mine do.

Roll on winter I say.

From where I sit

Gosh in my house we have come to the end of the two weeks beginning the winter sport programme.  Its schedule is irregular and rather full.  From my view I could take up the job of a taxi driver. So without even looking at anything else outside the hockey here is what our two weeks looked like.  Of course there was still speech and drama, violin lessons and the morning school sport twice a week to add.

So now we are popping out the other side of these few weeks, and the winter practice schedule is starting to emerge, I can organised baby sitters and mentally brace myself for the business of the two terms ahead.  I even marked on the calender when my DH was away for work as it impacts on what I need to do and have organised.

Lifes learning moments

Life is full of learning moments.  Children as much as anybody have so much to learn, not only accademically but about life in general.

So now that my lovely daughter has been selected to play in her schools first XI hockey team there will be some important lessons.  She will need to be tolerant of those who are less skilled than her.  She will need to get used to playing in many different positions and adapt quickly.  Then there are the big girls, more aggressive girls and more so not being in the best team on the day (maybe a lot of the time).

On the postive side of things she, unlike her hockey club team mates, will get lots of playing time.  It will make her really hockey fit.  She will have to read the games for others and learn how to impart her knowledge of the game without offending others.  Finally she will have to earn their respect which will be vital in making a postive team culture.

I hope that she is up for the challenge.

(McKenzie stretching her legs out after a two day 4 game tournament)

Wordless Wednesday 2 October

Nothing like a great game of hockey to view.

Believe it or not just a couple of weeks ago my daughter was supposed to be on that field playing club hockey one Saturday morning early.

Luckily about 10 minutes later the fog lifted and it was a beautiful spring morning.

I am linking this post to My Little Drummer Boys.

Wordless Wednesday 17 October

I can't help but put a few more photos to go with this post

 

 

 

My daughter is in the Navy Blue.


Then lets not forget the parents on the side line. I am there furtherest away.

 

I am linking this post to My Little Drummer Boys.

When your heart beats proudly.....

Don't you just love it when your children finds something that they are passionate about and then just love everything there is to do with that thing.  Take for example my daughter McKenzie.  She is passionate about hockey.  She really loves maybe that should be is stimulated by hard training.  she is not afraid to make the hard tackles on the really big girls, she listens hard and really thinks strategically about the game.

I know some people might think that I am pushing her, yes I introduced her to hockey but no it is all her.  She is the one that has the dreams, she is the one who  asks the good questions of the coach and she is the one is can visualise the game (has a hockey brain according to coaches she has had).

This year McKenzie really wanted to go the the National hockey tournament for Under 13 girls called Colliers Cup.  So  we helped her by moving where she played hockey, both club and province and she achieved it.  I have to say that her Dad and I were stunned and proud that she made it to the top 16 Under 13 girls of Auckland.  90 something girls trialled.

Well to cut a long story short, last week the tournament was held in our home turf.  Her team finished 4th.  McKenzie played like a deamon and I can't be prouder.  She came away with stiff and tired legs, and seemed exhillarated by the whole experience.  ( I should add here that it is hard work being a parent on the sideline supporting your child and their team.)

So as a tribute to her efforts and abilities here is a small tribute to her skill and determination.  Also she could not have done it without the fabulous coach Scott and team manager Bonny.

 (McKenzie is in the blue kit controlling the door.)

 

 (McKenzie is in the Red (alternate) stip)

 

(McKenzie again in the red stip controlling the ball)

Don't for get to Dream, It might just come true.

My daughter McKenzie plays hockey.  I have written about this before many times.  This year we decided, as she is very passionate about this sport, to move her club registration out of where she had been since she was five, to a new club falling under a new provincial structure.  This decision too my DH and I much thought and discussion.  What really helped seal the decision came down to these few things

• she is passionate about the sport and we needed to make sure she had all the opportunties avaliable to her.
• under the club and provincial structure she was in she was going to run out of girls/ youth to play in a team with thus leaving her to play in adults team once she was in Year 9 (13 years old).
• we were looking long term for a health club environment to be involved in so she could form friends outside of school in a positive sporting environment.

So this year was a year of new for both her school and sport. 

She has been playing representative hockey for a few years and this year with the move and many more girls participting she might not have been seen as good enough by the decision makers this year to play representative hockey.

So after 3 trial days, 95 girls attending, and total exhaustion on her part, she was picked in the team putting her in the top 16 girls in our new province.  I have to say right here and now I was stunned, and excited, to see her picked.  I know that my daughter is good and well skilled.  She trains hard, listens carefully and is really brave out there on the turf.  The reality this year was that she was relatively unknown this year which just might have made a difference.  I had been trying to tell her she needed to dream that she was good enough to trial and be picked but also if she was not picked it was only those three men decision and next year was another year.  A very fine line of support to give.

Anyway to cut a long story short.  Her team played their first game in the weekend.  My very excited but somewhat nervous daughter put on her new strip and off she went.

Now I just have to remember to actually take my camera out when I am watching her play so that I can get some action shots.

So I guess that the moral of my little post is to make sure you dream.  You just never know, it just might come true.

It has begun.

Summer is hardly over and the winter sport season is already beginning.  The last two weekend we have spent the Sunday mornings leaning over the wire fence, peering at the water turf that hockey is played on, watching two of my children trialling for hockey teams.

This year is the first time that Hayden has expressed an interest in hockey.  So dutifully I dragged out a pair of well loved hockey socks so he could feel part of the game, even if it is in a small way.  This was only to have me told that we wanted a game too.  I know that he really means this but hockey has a really hard stick and ball that when used inappropriately can do some damage.  I know this for sure as a woman playing social hockey last year had the tip of her finger removed.    Hmmm but lets not go there.  Perhaps that is something more about the skill and fitness of the players on the field at that time, than anything else.

So in honour of the first two Sundays and Thursday evenings spent at the hockey turf here is McKenzie after having put her best effort in.

The Hockey Season is Over

After two school terms of spending Saturday mornings watching McKenzie and Andre play hockey it has finally come to a seasons end.  While I love standing at the turf watching, this year the weather was more often wet and cold (with no protection from the weather) even bitter.   Just sometimes I wish my children had chosen a sport like badminton where they are alway playing indoors.

Anyway, as a very proud mother of my childrens effort and improvements this year, here they are enjoying one of their final games of the season.

McKenzie is quite short and young in her grade.  The year 8 boys are starting to be much taller than her as you can see.

Andre, well here he is defending a penalty corner.  He is the little hockey player in the blue top.

I can't wait to see what next years hockey brings.