Personal Narrative Essay: The Hockey State Tournament

I felt my heart racing as I imagined making the top team in the club. I knew right then and there that I was going to try out for the team as soon as I discussed it with my parents. After my parents’ approval, I went to the first tryout with high expectations and aspirations. The tryout was going well at first; my skill was evident on the ice. I was making quick passes and skating hard. I will never forget the fateful pass that happened next. I remember the play in slow motion. I passed the puck through the center ice, a precarious move, but it was intercepted by the opposing team and as a result they scored a swift goal. Groans from the other players could be heard and my heart sank. That pass would determine my fate. After the tryout, I undressed slowly replaying the pass repeatedly in my head. Coach Ruben walked out of his office with the list of players who made the team in his hand. As he posted the list on the bulletin board, all the eager players ran over, examining the list of names. I stared at at the list for what seemed like an eternity searching for my name, but it was not there. I stifled my disappointment and followed my parents out to the car. To my ten year old self, my dreams were crushed and I assumed my hockey career was over before it even

Tryouts ended the day before and now we were waiting in line for cuts to see if we made the field hockey team.We were waiting in the halls of the school as each person went into a classroom one by one to see if we made it.

“How do we want to make you look? With that red hair, we can make you quite the temptress, but if you want to play that kind of thing down, we can work that out, too,” he said matter-of-factly.

I was a new kid that was on the team this year. I knew a lot of the players on that team, so my family and I talked about me playing there. I was so happy that they said I would be able to! Even know that I was the new kid to this team everyone treated me great, and it was like I already played with them for previous years.

It was a very cold winter day in December. I was heading off to a hockey game just like any other day. My dad screamed down the steps, "Ryan, did you pack your bag? We got to go!" My dad never wants to be late for hockey or feel rushed to get there. I woke up earlier than normal on this day in December. My inline hockey games were not typically early, but this day in particular, it was at 8 am. I skipped breakfast at home, but my dad asked, "Do you want something small from McDonald's?" I said, "Sure!" I enjoyed the hashbrown from McDonald's as I knew I would eat a bigger meal after the game.

It was one of these warm summer days that was made to order. You remember the kind, when upon waking up the birds are singing, the sun shining and you know because of all of the activity in the house something fun was about to happen. Mother tells you after eating breakfast,Go wash your face and hands, followed by "Put on the clothes I have lying on your bed and stay clean" In her mother's voice she called to me, "Come here and let me brush your hair". Mother pulled and tugged at what she referred to the"rats nest" and finally got my hair into a ponytail. My brothers and I cleaned up nice in our good play clothes. My parents wanted us to look as respectable as possible.

Today was the day. As I woke up I wondered about the day ahead of me. Once I got up I looked out the window, the bright light shining in my face. I took a quick second to adjust my eyes, and realized that it had snowed almost 9 inches. “This is going to be interesting,” I thought. It was the day of the annual pond hockey tournament. The small town of about 500 people participate in the tournament. As I get ready to go, I debate what to wear. I finally decide on warm pants, thick jacket, a hat, gloves, and hand warmers along with my skates and gloves.

Having an amazing field hockey season my senior year had always been a dream of mine. I wanted to be a senior that left an impression on the underclassmen. When I began my field hockey journey in middle school, the players that I looked up to were like older sisters to me. They not only taught me new skills, they represented the type of player and leader that I wanted to be. Passionate, determined, and encouraging.

Right around Christmas time, at the best time of year, there’s a hockey tournament called the DQ (Dairy Queen). It’s hosted in Moncton, early January. It is probably the most anticipated tournament for me, and many others I’d imagine because you are away with your teammates having a blast around the hotel and playing hockey.

“I had to shave every day, every day, for 33 years. And even before that when I was working on local TV. And I just thought, the first thing I will do when I am not on TV is stop shaving," he told Montana’s “Whitefish Review” back in December. I’ve kind of developed a real creepy look with it that I’m sort of enjoying. And I can tell that people are off-put by it. And the more people implore me to shave, the stronger my resolve is to not shave.”

Today it was any ordinary day for me but I remembered that I had a hockey game today. I knew that this game was to determine if my team made it to the championship game or if the other team did, the other team was a bunch of goons their idea was to hit us and hit us hard along the boards. I knew how they played and I thought we could just beat them with speed but, no the opposite happened my team played slow that night and played to their level of play. My friend on the team said, “They’re playing so well tonight.” I thought that too because our team was down by one goal the entire game till the third period. I notice that on the other team they had two guys that would hit you no matter where you were. They would hit you here and there and

“ um, yeah I cut after my mom's death. Allison dad and I went to France for the summer and well, we decided to cut our hair it's getting a bit longer than... Allisons was which Is good cause I didn't wanna look like her “ I said

It ruptured my “old” lifestyle. Hockey improved my social life with great strength. The game of hockey has components that no other sport contains. The “brotherhood” that a team forms is practically impenetrable. This forced me to communicate better, and eventually I talked much more than I had before I started playing hockey. It also forced me to gain self-defense as well, and after I began playing, I could stand up for myself. Besides mental changes, my body adapted to hockey. It gave me the strength to feel more confident about my

Friday night rolled around, it was the game we had all been working so hard for. Knowing we were seniors, we knew it would be the end of the journey.

Anyway we've grown suburb of hair, and the hair grows back its original length again, and he wants to cut it short again (he thought rolleyes.gif) I forbid him to get him outskirts fine with, but he wants to cut short enough to wear down in school..which mean it can not touch the bottom of his shirt