The long road between tryouts and roster announcements

This week has been a long one. It’s the 4 days between the last of the tryouts and the roster announcement. Last year, I happened to be up when the rosters went out at 12:15 am. I was the first to know that my son had made the 3rd team, and his best friend had made the 2nd team. It sucked. We waited 24 hours, and then sent an email to the hockey director. Who kindly and gently told us that our son would stay right where he was. It was a major learning moment for all of us. We ended up with a good team, as our club got a bunch of new players from other teams that didn’t make the tryout so they couldn’t be on a higher team. Our club is known for being well organized and supportive, and they came to us because of bad experiences elsewhere.

My son worked really hard in the spring. During the spring season he had a game where he scored 7 of the 8 goals. He voluntarily got up at 5:30 to skate. He did hockey camps, learned what it sounds like when his skates are moving fast. He lost his temper and learned how not to lose a championship. (By that I mean, he lost, didn’t handle it well, and learned the consequences of being an asshole. That’s a blog post for later).

So I’m here, and I should go to bed. Last year I knew about his team placement. I waited until after school the following day to tell him. I didn’t want him to find out before school and have a crappy day. We think he’ll either be on the 1st or 2nd team. He worked hard. He tried hard. He wants to be on the ice. I just hope the coaches see his passion, and love of the game. His best friends in the whole world are at the rink. I’ve already submitted my manager application to the club, as I’ll want to be involved regardless of the team he’s on.

I’ve decided to head to bed. The roster will be the same whether I read it tonight or tomorrow.