We are currently in the midst of another tournament weekend. This one is relatively close to home but we still opted for a hotel stay due to the crazy game schedule. Be at the rink at 6:30… A.M.!?! We’ll sleep a couple of miles away to avoid getting up in the middle of the night, thanks. I know, I know… wimps!
Tournaments are fun, but a bit overwhelming at times. The weird schedule (game Friday morning, game Saturday morning, game Saturday night, game Sunday morning) leads to a lot of scurrying around interspersed with long stretches of downtime. And, being a youth hockey tournament, there tend to be a lot of youth hockey players around. Go figure. No real way to avoid them, no matter how hard you try. For example, my otherwise peaceful workout this afternoon was interrupted by a dozen or so 11ish year olds who decided that they needed to exercise some more between games. Races on the treadmills and weight lifting challenges promptly ensued. I had to either “play mom” (they were unsupervised, of course) and tell them to put down the 50 lb. dumbbells before they hurt themselves or grab my stuff and skedaddle. I chose the latter so I don’t actually know how fast they were able to go on the elliptical, sorry.
When I’ve competed in tournaments as an adult, I’ve always found the process of getting psyched up before a game and then coming down after only to have to get up again for the next game exhausting. I’m finding the same thing as the parent now – packing and unpacking gear, feeding and resting the child between games, and then getting him ready to play again is tiring. Glad I had time to take a nap.
Image taken during a youth hockey tournament in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’m sure some of you have tournament experience. What do you do to survive these weekends?
Tending the Goalie 