Every athlete knows that the end of their career is
always right around the corner. With each passing year it becomes more and more
apparent that you won't play forever. It's gets harder and harder to make
teams, and less and less of your friends are on those teams. For most athletes
that final year is your senior year of high school, by that time if you don't
have an offer to go somewhere you probably aren't playing sports. It's all
about closing out your high school career with a championship season, we all
dream about going out on top and for some that’s a reality. But for most of us
it ends when the season ends whether that means playoffs or not.
It's abrupt and sad because most of us have never
known life without our sport. Last year was my last season of hockey; I was a
senior in high school finishing up my career. It was my first season of juniors
which made hockey my entire life, which I loved every minute if it. It was like
all of a sudden everyday was hockey, I was literally eating, breathing and
sleeping hockey. Every weekend was a new opponent and the games just kept
piling up, it all seemed like a dream. Then came my senior year of hockey, I
was honored to be an assistant captain. We had a rough season, but it was great
group of kids and we all had fun. We missed the playoffs by a few games, and
the day of the season would end it all.
That was one of the hardest days of any season, we
all knew that was the end and the air around the team told the whole story. We
were all drifting through that day just waiting for it to end. We won the game,
but knowing that we would never step out on the ice in that jersey was one of
the hardest pills I have ever had to swallow. The days following that game are
all a blur I was lost without hockey, it was special kind of sadness not one
from loss but regret. All the things that I could have done to have a better
career in high school. A few weeks later my juniors season ended and I had no
hockey on the horizon.
But being home you are familiar with all the rinks
and places to skate you are always able to find ice. When I left for college it
was different story, I had none of my gear and hadn't skated in weeks. There
was no hockey, I had no outlet and no familiarity to my life. It was like
learning how to walk again; I had never learned what life without hockey was
like. Without that discipline in my life I stopped working out, started eating
worse and started looking for something new. I found writing and I was lucky
enough to find jobs covering hockey teams in New England. I found new life
through the Manchester Monarchs and Providence Bruins.
I was close to the sport that I loved and had found
my passion for covering it. It was hard trying to juggle both teams with
articles almost every night and school work. But I have made it happen and have
made so many of my goals come true, I have a following in the hockey community
and have started a name for myself. These next couple of weeks will be some of
the biggest for me, as I will be covering the Winter Classic at Gillette
Stadium. So It goes to show that there is a life without sports and no matter
how bleak it seems there is always light at the end of the tunnel. It may be
hard to understand in the moment, but even if all things seem lost they aren't
and there is always something else for you.
A wise man once said "do or do not there is no try", his name
was Yoda. When we say we will try to do something there is always a sense of
our failure, but there is no try you will either do it or you won't. There is
nothing in between, following your passion because without it there is nothing
for you in life. And even though there will be struggles along the way as long
as you love what you're doing you will always make it through.
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