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Your Novice Rep team was eliminated from the play-offs after being defeated in the first round by Mitchell, and then in the second round by Seaforth.
Listowel’s skill level was matched much closer to Mitchell and Seaforth than what the series indicated.
To start with, our goalie Josh did everything humanly possible to keep us within striking distance in every game. Despite the net crashing and what seemed like endless digging for the puck after the whistle had gone, Josh showed his teammates the resilience needed to play such a demanding position.
Next up the ice is the defence pairings of Taytumm and Drew, and Cole and Colin. Tayt and Drew gave our coaches a bit more to comment about as they periodically used more of the ice than is usually required by a defenseman, but with that extra bit of wondering brought with it many chances that would have never happened otherwise. Cole and Colin are more old school, and continually improved their shutdown capabilities as the season progressed.
Ben, Brayden, Carter Coates, and Carter Coombs all being the younger players continued to show the fans just what the next year holds for Novice hockey. Only by their birth certificate is the only way you would know they were the YOUNG GUNS on the ice. It mattered not what size the opponent was, these guys were always up for the challenge.
Carter Servais, Chet, Mika, Nikolas, and Bret never let up all season, and kept pushing forward even when the going got tough.
You are wondering about the title of this article, aren’t you?
Everything we do that’s important is the result of conflict. Not a conflict between us and the world — a conflict between us and ourselves. We want to eat another dessert but we want to be healthy and skinny. We want to help others and we want more for ourselves. We want to stand up and make a difference and we want to sit down and hide and be safe. We want our child to shoot, but we also want them to pass. We want our child to skate as hard as they can and battle for the puck, but we don’t want them to take a penalty. We want them to rush up the ice but to also hang back so they don’t get caught. We want them to win but not by too many goals. This conflict, the conflict between I and me, is at the heart of being human. We really don’t know what goes on in the minds of our youth, but this may just shed a bit of light on it.
We watch and cheer, applaud, and critique our kids on the ice. The next time your kid does something great, or not-so great on the ice, hold your thoughts for just a second. All they are trying to do is juggle the conflict between I and me at that moment. Just like we do everyday.
What a pleasure to be part of such a dynamic mix of parents, coaches, and players.
Thank you players for giving us something to cheer about every single game.