My Hidden Rage….

One of the things we were most frustrated by the hockey system in Yellowknife was the length of time it took for the teams to be evaluated and balanced out. It never seemed to work right. Our last year there was the worst. Taylors division went from 4 to 5 teams and what started out as a pretty good looking team got chopped so much that we were left with one good skater and some who had never skated before.

Moving to PA we had hoped for something more. I mean after all this is Hockey Town North right. If you listen to the radio ads for the Raiders anyway.  Last year once again we had high hopes for Taylor’s team but infighting and disagreements led to us having almost as bad a year as the year before.

All the while I just kept my head by saying that it is just one year and that next year we can start fresh.

Enter next year.

Taylor tried out for Pee Wee AA. He didn’t make it and that was no huge surprise as they only allow for 2 goalies and there were 2 second year players who did better in the tryout than Taylor did. So the next step was the Tier II and Tier III evaluations.  After about 3 ice times we were called to confirm the 4th ice time. At which time we were told that Taylor would make Tier II. This was not a shock because out of the 9 goalies trying out, we were sure Taylor was top2 or 3.

Well we went to the 4th ice time and then waited for the call for the Mini tournament. We got the call from his coach and showed up dutifully at the arena at the appointed time. Once there we realized that Taylor had been placed Tier III. We were shocked, and angry. Trev immediately went to the guy in charge and began a discussion with him. The VP of MInor Hockey also got involved. They both agreed Taylor should be Tier II but said that they numbers put him in the bottom 6 and so they put him in Tier III. They also both admitted that the way the goalie evaluation was handled was something they were not happy with but didn’t know what else to do.

So they said they would discuss it more and get back to us.  So now we wait. We wait with our little guy who is crushed because every single one of his friends who played Tier II with him last year is in Tier II again and he is not. He cried the other night and is ready to quit because he knows that they screwed up.  We are not angry hockey parents who think our kid is better than everyone else, we aren’t out to advance our kid at the expense of others. We are just parents to a boy who loves his sport, tries really hard and works really hard out there. We just feel it is our job to advocate for our kids and when we see that there is an injustice in how things we done, an absolute flaw in the system we need to push for a change to benefit our child.

But I am angry. And so is Trev. He is our kid. And yes hockey and all sports are to be fun. But people have fun in different ways. Noah is playing Tier III hockey and is fine with it. He is with his friends and doesn’t always worry if he gets the puck or not. He has some ability but isn’t concerned about becoming the fastest or the best and we are okay with that too. Taylor is more like his dad. He has a sports mind and is very driven in whatever sport he plays (even Ping Pong) and the better he gets the more fun he has. The more competitive he can play the more fun he has. And we are okay with that too.

Because of Tay’s nature and drive we have done what we can to help him out with his goalie skills. We have allowed him to try for the highest level he can play. That is why it is so frustrating now that there are people all over Minor Hockey willing to say he is at Tier II level goalie but they still decided by numbers that he should play Tier III. 

So I am angry. I have this hidden rage when it comes to the people I love. It is something that I can’t control. I have a hard time speaking to people when I feel that my child is being compromised. It is frustrating because often I can hardly stop myself from burting into tears over it all. Unfortunately my son has inherited this and it frustrates both of us. In this situation I am trying to let Trevor handle it as I know he will not burst into tears but will rather handle it in the manly fashion which is to just get angry and yell. Funny how that reaction seems more socially acceptable. 

I hate being here in this position though. Waiting for someone else’s judgement. Mentally preparing myself for the worst and trying to decide how much we want to fight the system if they do not see things for our point of view.  Hockey gets a bad rap too. We do not want to be seen as “those” hockey parents who think that their kid is “all that.” Cuz really we don’t. We know that there are kids out there that are better than our kid. But when you have people within the organization that makes the decisions and they even see that they screwed up and that he should be at Tier II then what are we supposed to do? It is our job as parents to be our children’s best advocate and their biggest defender.  It is the the organizations job to make decisions that best benefit the majority of the children. By making the decision they did, they really benefit no one.

I don’t know I know I am not making sense but I just hate the week we have been having.