Youth

Not your average hockey mom

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Last Updated on Thursday, 20 December 2012 18:08

By Debbie Kump

When I stepped off the ice after a Squirt practice earlier this season, I met the puzzled stares of parents and players from a neighboring association. I wondered if their confusion stemmed from seeing a mom actually coaching boys’ hockey or from the dark sunglasses I wore under my helmet while indoors.

I have good reason for each: The mountaineering glacier glasses help me cope with a genetic autoimmune disease called iritis that flared in my eyes following my first pregnancy. The bout of iritis left me extremely light-sensitive and prevented my return to a full-time teaching career.

But I coach hockey because I love the opportunity to educate kids outside of the classroom. In fact, coaching landed me a part-time job teaching elementary art because of my prior experiences working with many of these students at the rink.

Truthfully speaking, my husband and I never expected our two sons to play hockey. But when Apple Valley Hockey Association offered free registration and equipment to recruit new players, my older son – a kindergartner at the time – eagerly chose hockey over basketball, and we soon fell in love with the sport.

Astonished by the record number of girls participating in hockey without a single female on the ice, the following year I decided to volunteer even though I didn’t know how to skate (or stop!) and was a competitive swimmer in high school (the polar opposite of hockey, I believe). With practice, my skating skills grew quickly as I followed him up through his Mite program. But when I coached his younger brother and retained the entire team roster throughout their first-year Mite level, the association asked me to take on the role of lead coach for the following season.

Hockey soon permeated most aspects of our life. We filled in our pool and converted our backyard into a rink where we hold regular intra-family scrimmages. My first published Young Adult novel, Exiled to the North, featured a hockey goalie as one of its main characters. After noticing how much I enjoyed coaching hockey, my husband decided to complete his CEP Level 1 course and all 32 hours of USAH online modules for Squirt/U10 and Mite/U8 levels so he could join us on the ice this season.

Since my second-year Squirt also volunteers as a goalie for his brother’s Mite practices, our trips across the parking lot and into the rink usually resemble a caravan procession as each one of us lugs a personal bag of gear through the narrow entryway; yet every session of practice has truly turned into a family event. Even during the first few weeks of school this year, students called me “Coach Deb” almost as often as “Ms. Kump.”

My unique position allows me to play the role of both hockey coach and hockey mom. As a coach, I carry a puck bag to the rink and prepare practice plans with the intent of minimizing wait time while maximizing player development. And like other hockey moms, I also launder heaps of clothes, socks and jerseys needed for the next day’s practices or games, prepare quick meals to inhale between hockey events, visit the local hockey store for frequent skate sharpenings, and host pond hockey and in-line hockey parties on our backyard rink.

As a coach, I organize Jamborees and determine the player and coaching assignments for the Mite teams, while as a mom, I have the names placed on the back of each jersey and braid hockey laces into bracelets and necklaces for end of the season prizes. As a Mite lead, I am fortunate to have a dedicated group of experienced coaches who readily encourage players and correct their mistakes … and as a mom, a family who supports me in my various responsibilities.

Yet my untraditional role of “Mom Coach” often places me in distinct situations. At my CEP Level 3 training class this fall, I was the only female present in a room of 50+ Squirt and Bantam coaches. At Squirt try-outs, I burdened a fear unlike that of any other mom – not for my son’s placement on the team that best suited his abilities, but rather a worry that I must again turn down the association’s request to head coach his team since I already committed to leading the Mite 3 level and could not effectively devote my time to coaching both. And when I accidentally transferred one of my hockey skates from the dry bag to my son’s gear bag before a tournament last year, the team manager recommended I string my skates in pink laces to avoid future confusion.

At our Squirt tournament this past weekend, the head coach’s son requested I represent our team when the moms took the ice for a shot on net. If I scored a goal, I would win free slushies for the whole team, courtesy of the concession stands. (And I knew he didn’t select me to take that shot because I’m his art teacher.) I managed to squeeze in a few practice shots before their game … and fortunately, that practice paid off. I received two pucks to shoot from the red line, but scored on my first try. A good thing, too: After our team came from behind to win the consolation champ trophy, I think those boys definitely deserved their free round of blue slushies.

Debbie Kump is a Apple Valley Mite 3 Lead Coach, hockey mom, teacher and local author. For more information, you may find her on Facebook and Amazon, or visit https://sites.google.com/site/debbiekumpbooks.