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OPINION: A tribute to the good ol’ hockey game and hockey families

I remember bleacher heaters and stinky locker rooms, hot chocolate and practices before sunrise
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Editor Monique Tamminga has many memories of living at the local ice arena and then watching her nephew play at Memorial Arena. (PMH Facebook)

I spent a lot of my childhood in our local hockey rink watching my big brother play the sport he loves. I remember being dragged at some godawful hour to practices while I napped on the hard blue bleachers.

I remember mornings so early, even the birds weren’t up yet.

I remember instead of watching him play games I’d be jumping all over the benches and running and playing hide and go seek with other rink rat siblings.

I remember cheering my brother on as he scored a goal and watching the heartbreak when they lost a tournament. I remember bleacher heaters and blankets, hot chocolate and candy from the quarter machines. I remember team chats and stinky locker rooms, hockey sticks and bulky hockey bags.

I also remember playing on the big ice hills behind the arena. I never got to ride on the Zamboni but I sure wanted to.

My brother was always raring to go – eager to get on the ice and play the game he loved with the teammates he loved. If it was up to him we’d be at the rink everyday.

So goes the life of a hockey family.

In today’s newspaper, we have a special feature looking at the long history and celebrated future of the Penticton Minor Hockey Association. So many families, parent coaches, teen referees, volunteers extraordinaire doing the score board or fundraising have called the Memorial Arena home and their hockey family – well, family.

Memorial Arena was built in 1951 and soon became home base for budding hockey players and their families. Many kids, parents, grandparents and siblings have spent days and weekends at the old barn arena, making memories and playing Canada’s sport, cheering on teams.

My nephew, my brother’s son, went on to be a hockey kid just like his dad, even taking on his dad’s number 16. He suited up in the Memorial Arena locker rooms and spent years with Penticton Minor Hockey – his hockey family.

He made lifelong friends there and memories too. He went on to the Okanagan Hockey Association and played Junior B with the Summerland Steam and then onto Junior A with an Alberta team.

Again I found myself on those blue bleachers cheering on another family member.

In order for Penticton Minor Hockey to exist and succeed the way it has – is because of the dedication of volunteer coaches and caring administration, board members and the community.

It’s the volunteer coaches who dedicate so much heart and soul and instil values of teamwork and respect on and off the ice. Not to mention the early morning practices they are willing to organize.

There are the volunteers at the concession, the scoreboard, penalty box. Those behind the scenes making sure every lace is tied, every helmet on.

It’s the referees and the administration.

Whether the hockey players go on to become superstars is never the point. It’s the journey along the way. The good ol’ hockey game is the best game in the world.



Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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