After committing hours to practice, off-ice training, travel and washing the god-awful stench out of my gear over the past ten years, I was devastated when two back-to-back injuries ended my hockey "career" of sorts. Goaltending has always been my passion and driving motivation to succeed in the sport as well as off the ice.
Now that I'm stuck watching games from the bleachers instead of being in the action, I figure I may as well commit that energy towards something productive. Hopefully this Blog will be the perfect place to write about the sport I love so dearly as I slowly begin to heal and accept that I will never wear another jersey with my name sewn on the back.
Hockey has, and always will be a huge part of my life. Growing up in Eastern Iowa, hockey has shown an amazing amount of growth in the popularity in the past ten years that it has been my world. There are more youth players than ever before in Cedar Rapids, a high school team has been formed and the girls in Eastern Iowa have finally had someone step up to provide them with a solid program. (Thank you Mr. Kevin Brooks!) In addition, the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are celebrating their eleventh season at "the stable" and have signed a ten year extension with the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.
Over the next ten years I know an amazing amount of things will change for the hockey world in Iowa. The sport will continue to grow in popularity, and over the next several years I wouldn't be surprised to see at least a few youth Cedar Rapids players to begin playing for junior teams (such as the RoughRiders) or heading off to college on sports scholarships. It's exciting to think about and I look forward to watching the programs grow.
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