Is quitting really worth it??
Monday, November 28, 2005

Posted by Shnutz

I may not be your average Gongshow Hockey member, but I have shared many of the same memories and experiences through hockey that most of you have. I am a female hockey player from Minnesota and have played at every level possible. As I graduated from college and am currently playing in a women’s professional league I’ve looked back at my life of hockey..the good and the bad. I think we all know hockey is the greatest sport on earth that can only be truly appreciated by those that have played it. I recently saw a quote by Sidney Crosby which sums it up best, “What do you call a life that’s been nothing but hockey? I call it time well spent.” However, we all know as well that in our hockey careers we have all ran across bumps in the road.

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We have all had team mates and friends throughout the levels we played at that have thought about quitting, come close to quitting or actually did pull the plug. Some of us may have done it ourselves. There are times where the love for the game is lost due to riding the pine, not dressing for games, horrible coaching, unpleasant team mates, unfair politics in tryouts, or for no reason at all, you may really not want to play anymore. Over my years of dedication to hockey I have seen many players give up on the sport that they once had so much love for. Many of these players having so much talent and potential that it makes me sick. I have even thought about seriously quitting a time or two. That is why I am writing this.

I thank God every day that I stuck with this sport. I’ve been playing hockey since I was nine years old and still find any way that I can keep playing competitively. I may not have the opportunities that most of you boys do but I am thankful for every single one that has come my way. When times were tough on and off the ice I would try to bring myself back to why I loved the game so much, and then suck it up and keep pushing forward. If you or a team mate are thinking about giving up do yourselves and the sport of hockey a favor and remember those times that brought you back to the innocence of the game. It might be the team mates that sit next to you in the freezing cold locker rooms that would go to hell and back for you, the sacred bonds of friendship that are formed on long grueling bus rides, the smell of the ice when you enter a rink to go to battle and the feeling of the cold air on your face as you fly down the ice or of course those winter nights out on the ponds with your buddies and a few cold ones.

Please do the best you can to convince yourself or your team mate that hockey is worth it. It is worth the weekends you can’t go out with your friends, it is worth those practices where you skate your ass off until you can’t feel your legs anymore, it is worth your coach yelling in your face and making you feel worthless. Remember that we all go through it, every single hockey player experiences this together and that’s what makes us so unique is we stick together. Hockey builds character, now ask yourself if you have it? Ask a guy/gal that has been playing it for many years and ask them if it was worth it. I guarantee they will say it was worth everything in the world. At least join a beer league if your going to quit your college/junior team. So when the times get tough and you find yourself questioning if you love the game still, keep your head up, lean on your team mate who will always be there for you and find deep inside yourself why you strapped on those skates at such a young age. Playing this sport involves a lot of blood, sweat and tears but I promise you what you put into it, you will get back one hundred times more. Good luck with your seasons everyone!


Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. ~Newt Gingrich