schneefink: River walking among trees, from "Safe" (Fleury)
schneefink ([personal profile] schneefink) wrote2014-11-05 02:34 pm

I played hockey today

I played hockey today! It was fantastic.

I signed up for a beginner's hockey course at the university sports institute this year (they have cheap sports classes for students, it's great.) Last week was optional practice for people who wanted to start early, but I didn't feel up to it and ER, who signed up with me, and I went skating instead. Good idea, I hadn't been in a while.

And today was the first actual practice! I didn't know what to expect, but it was even better than I imagined. We were about 25 people, 7 girls, we got our own dressing room - not only is it heated, which was unnecessary in today's sunny weather but will be fantastic in winter, but it also means that we have a lot of space. There are even clean showers.

First: put on the equipment. Fortunately L. and D. had been at practice last week so they could give us tips (like "don't put on the upper body armor first because it's much harder to bend down and tie your skates," and "don't forget to bring a water bottle.") It felt like we were suddenly twice as big! Then we got our jerseys (yellow) and sticks.

Beginning of practice: skating. Wow is that tiring.
Then we got pucks and were supposed to skate around with a puck on our stick, that was extremely hard. The passing exercise was a bit easier.

And then the trainer organized us into teams, told us to form lines, and then to start playing. That was quick! (We had only one goalie who switched teams in the middle.) No idea how to do anything, basically, but it was so much fun. Some of us are beginners who've never played hockey before, while others clearly have and that was very apparent, but that didn't really matter. I got tired very easily, I have to try and become stronger :)

I had so much fun.

Beforehand and afterwards we chatted a bit, mainly in the dressing room so with the other girls (three are called Lena, btw) and now four of us have already planned to go to a live game in two weeks. And D. is also an NHL fan so we, and L. and ER too, are planning to watch an NHL afternoon game together. (D. is also a Pens fan so we agreed that it was weird to see the trainer come it with a Flyers cap *g*)

I'm very tired now, but mostly the good kind of tired. I'm already looking forward to next week.
snickfic: Buffy looking over her shoulder (fleury)

[personal profile] snickfic 2014-11-05 04:29 pm (UTC)(link)
That sounds like so much fun. I can't even skate, so getting to the point of even being able to put on hockey pads would take a long time, eep, but I really enjoy hearing about other people trying it out! It's really encouraging, I think, to see people learn new things as an adult, because I feel like often trying (and failing at) new things is a kid's prerogative, and once we're an adult, we stop. Which is terrible and wrong.

Anyway. Yay you!
snickfic: Buffy looking over her shoulder (fleury)

[personal profile] snickfic 2014-11-05 11:28 pm (UTC)(link)
I KNOW. :DDDD
marginaliana: Buddy the dog carries Bobo the toy (Default)

[personal profile] marginaliana 2014-11-05 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun!
extempore: (Default)

[personal profile] extempore 2014-11-06 08:19 am (UTC)(link)
Oha, wo trainiert ihr da? Ich hab die Schmelz-Angebote auch einige Zeit in Anspruch genommen, bevor ich in ein privates Fitnessstudio gewechselt bin. (Hab aber über's USI halt nur Aerobic-Sachen gemacht, keinen Teamsport). Ist schon eine tolle Sache.
naye: A cartoon of a woman with red hair and glasses in front of a progressive pride flag. (wai!)

[personal profile] naye 2014-11-06 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooooh, that sounds AWESOME! I'm sad I never got a chance to try hockey, despite, you know. Sweden. XD But I hope you have as much fun next week!