Juggling Players

I was looking forward to A&N playing spring hockey and me just being a spectator, but of course, that wasn't going to happen. With no parents willing to step up and help out, I got cajoled into working the bench. I think the people in charge didn't put a lot of effort into fielding volunteers, because when I asked around, parents were willing to help me.

Either way, in typical fashion, players come and go without giving us any notice, so you never know who is on our team will be there. The first game we played, we had 6 players, and they were exhausted. They had fun and got tons of ice time, but it was a little crazy. The next game, I called a friend and asked if his daughter wanted to play, and he ended up inviting 4 kids. I was a little surprised, but it worked out because we had 10 skaters, which is perfect.

I asked my good friend, GG, if his sons were interested, and they were, so we have two more skaters, who are also great hockey players. The problem I have is this. We have 9-10 skaters on our team, but on any given day, only 4-5 show up. I have to scramble to find players to make up a team. My life would be easier if I just went out and asked some of our hockey friends if they wanted to play, and I know without question they would be into it.

The issue is, if I make up a complete team of outside kids, what happens if the kids who paid show up? I have to give them priority, leaving my volunteer recruits out in the cold. I can only invited 1 or 2 kids because of this. Bummer.

What ends up happening is that the kids from the other teams are usually more than happy to play an extra game, so we are not in want of players. What happens is the opposite, we have too many kids that want to play, so you have to selectively ask them to join the team, all the while watching the door to see if your actual team is going to show up. It usually goes to the wire, and is a total drag because it's somewhat stressful, especially when you have kids and parents hounding you. We could just take everyone, but ideally you want 10 kids. That's the perfect amount, anything more makes it hard, but you can live with less.

Nobody said hockey was easy. This past game I think I pissed off my friend because his daughter wanted to play (she played in the game right before) and I said it was okay, but then the other coach brought in too many players and sent the excess over to us, and I had to turn my friend's daughter away. I know he's seething right now.

Oh well, life goes on, right? Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Debbie Bryant for the pic.