Holy Moly Goalie Mama Drama!

I survived my first season as an official Goalie Mom! Harrison has wanted to be a goalie since he could stand and hold a hockey stick. Before he could talk, or even knew what hockey was, he would stand in the net with a hockey stick and would have us take shots on him. It seemed odd to shoot pucks at my toddler, but he insisted....unlike all the other children I know, who are anxious to score a goal, my son wanted to stop them! By the age of four, he had his own set of goalie street pads, a goalie street mask and an impressive collection of goalie sticks! One of my favorite memories of him as a preschooler, is of us watching a Flames game on TV from our living room, and him wearing his full goalie equipment and making every save along with Kiprusoff and acting out the entire game as if it were him in the net. It proved to be a valuable exercise for what would later prove to be his position of preference!

When he was 5 years old and we signed him up for Minor Hockey, he asked to be the goalie. The only problem was, that until they start playing at the Atom level (age 9-10) they rotate positions. He was so frustrated by this. He wanted to play net. He knew he belonged in net. But, rules are rules and he rotated positions as set out by the Minor Hockey guidelines stated by our association. That didn't seem to matter to him. He would just stand in front of the net and play goalie from "D". The coaches have had to tell him not to play goalie from outside the net and have been heard yelling from the bench, "Harrison, you're on Defence! Defence! Get out of the crease!" You can take the boy out of the net, but you can't take the net out of the boy!!! He finally got his big break in first year Novice (age 7-8) when he had proved himself in net in a handful of regular season games & the coach asked him to be the play off goalie! That year they had an awesome play off run and won the banner in their division, with Harrison as the goalie! And if he wasn't hooked before, he was then....

So last fall, we agreed to let him try out for goalie. We sunk a small fortune into goalie equipment and decided to let him get it out of his system. After a full season as one of two goalies for the Olds Grizzlies Atom B hockey team, it's still not out of his system! Being the goalie is a tough gig. The goalie is like the Lone Wolf. You are the only one playing an individual game in a team sport. You are the only one on that team defending the net, stopping very hard frozen pucks with all parts of your body, your head included, as the last line of defence, shutting down the shooters of the opposing team, while the rest of your team is shooting the puck in the opposite direction, with the single goal of scoring. The puck has to make it through five of your teammates, including two of your own defencemen (who can be your best friend, or your worst nightmare!) before you even get a piece of it....but when you do, it's Do or Die! It's all or nothing! There can be a lot of standing around for a few seconds of total adrenaline rush. It's far more of a mental game than a physical game, even though the goalie has to be very fit and flexible. You need to bring your best game, every game. Do not let them shake your confidence or it will mess with your head and throw you off your game. You take the fall for a tough loss, as the team can be quick to blame the goalie for lack of defence. And you rarely get recognized for the glory of a hard fought win.

Besides your defencemen, a goalie's other best friend is the goal post! As a Goalie Mom, there is no sweeter sound than hearing that unmistakable "ting" of the hockey puck hitting the goal post! I can conjure it up now like no other parent can, and can still get the exact pitch as it rings out across the cold arena. And I always let out a sigh of relief when I hear the familiar "thunk" of the puck bouncing off his stick. When my nerves can't take it and I can't look, I can close my eyes and listen, and still tell you exactly what happened! It takes nerves of steel to be a good Goalie Mom. The best compliment I had all season, was when one of the other Mom's on our team came up to me at a high tension game and said to me, "I don't know how you do it. I don't know how you can watch him play in net and stay so calm."  All I could think was....'I'm NOT calm!!! Do I look calm!? I might look calm on the outside, but I'm freaking out on the inside!' And that's the secret to being a good Goalie Mom! Never let them see you sweat! Show confidence in your player, even if you're losing. Stand behind your goalie, win, lose or draw. In both role as goalie and Goalie Mom, it is all guts and very little glory! But the secret is doing it with grace!