How can my friends’ hockey careers end like this?

Our season finished in dramatic fashion at our conference finals weekend in the University of Massachusetts, Boston at the beginning of November. We won the semi final against our crosstown rivals VCU only to play UMass in the final and be heavily beaten 5-0.

I have been fortunate enough to have some absolutely fantastic days on a hockey pitch and also some dreadful days, but this ranked up there with one of the most disappointing sporting experience of my life. Some would probably consider it outrageous and inaccurate of me to say it was a close game. I know that I’d even cringe at that a small bit, usually. But weren’t hammered off the pitch. In fact, I felt it was pretty even for a lot of the time. They were just far more clinical than we were. We had our opportunities but failed to take them. My Mom and aunt surprised me and arrived over for the tournament. I was absolutely ecstatic to have had them there, hockey or not, but I was even more glad to have some family around on this day. I think because sport is taken so seriously over here and becomes a way of life for so many, disappointments such as this one are extremely hard to understand. These girls’ families put so much of their lives on hold travelling long distances to get them to play for the best college possible, then following their teams around every single weekend once they get into college. I am very close with the senior class this year and I really felt that they deserved so much more than how it finished. The girls were hammered 5-0 in the last hockey match they ever played. Back home, if we finish up school hockey, for example, it’s disappointing but there’s always somewhere else to play. Here, when you play college hockey and finish at the age of 21/22, that’s it, you’re done for good. There is no club structure. It’s something that leaves me absolutely baffled time and time again, and I never fully realised the impact it had on these seniors until this year.

I flew home for just over three weeks for the Christmas period. I wouldn’t have been anywhere else for it to be honest! The two Northern Irish girls and Ryan (associate head coach) also flew back home. Classes started back on January 14; I’m taking on four more this semester. There are no easy classes here, and believe me, I’ve searched far and wide for them! At this stage of the year we are abiding by guidelines set down by the NCAA, who govern collegiate sport in America. We are only allowed train for a certain amount of hours each week in the off-season, so there hasn’t been much hockey. Instead, we’re back into our lift routine which consists of being over in the gym at 6:30am three days a week. Each week our schedule will slowly build up until we’re into a routine that involves strength, conditioning and hockey. The burning question of the moment amongst my family, team-mates and friends seems to be what my plans are for next year. Do I plan to come back again for another year? Do I plan to start into a course back home? There are pros and cons to both but I have never been so torn about a decision before. The next couple of weeks will tell a lot. I am naively hoping for some sort of divine inspiration or for someone to make this decision for me, but  I know this is something I have to decide for myself, and I will. In the meantime, I hope to enjoy my time here and take each day as it comes.