Yup, its almost hockey season again!

Hockey season is around the corner – three weeks or so around the corner. I never thought I would be a hockey mom. Yet, here I am, thinking about what’s coming. As a bantam A level hockey (rep hockey), it’s a competitive league. And they mean business! In many ways, I think it’s the best thing that happened to my son.

So here we are, in early August, and time to get ready. Here’s just a bit of what we will be doing to get ready. In rep hockey, the teams are decided in the spring – and while you officially need to try out every year, players are usually asked back, this was the case for us (whew! – we’ve had a few years where we had to try out and weren’t sure we would make it!).

• Check equipment – boys grow, every year, sometimes every few months. This means skates, shin pads, shoulder pads, etc. need to be checked.
• Training camp – yup – we no longer can go away the last week of August as it conflicts with training camp – the team.
• Team meeting – often the entire family – parents and kids get together to work out the plan for the season – this includes reviewing the team’s tournaments for the year, practice schedules, new equipment (we do sizing in the spring as well for new jerseys, team jackets, etc.
• Player goals – every year the players are asked to set goals, individual goals (how many goals do you want to score, what skills do you want to improve).
• Parent contact list – this is essential – you need to make sure you have everyone’s phone numbers and emails for the carpool opportunities – rep players are on the ice 3-4 days a week – between practice and games.

It’s always exciting to get back into the routine – we’ve met some great families, and also hockey has taken us to different parts of our city as we travel to new arenas for games and practices and the highlight of the year for the kids, the travel tournaments – nothing but fun and good times – and of course some hockey games thrown in. I think I’m ready!