Why Pond Hockey Beats Indoor Hockey
January 22, 2010
Hello Loyal Readers,
Thanks for reading, listening (for those of you who prefer the audio version below) and writing in with your comments.
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WHY POND HOCKEY BEATS INDOOR HOCKEY
“I think we have too many AAA, Showcase and elite camps for the kids today, and as a result, we are creating a bunch of robots. We need to make it fun for the kids and let them learn to love the game the way we did.”
-Herb Brooks, coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team
Pond Hockey: A Documentary Film
Just over half a million kids play organized hockey in the United States, as I did – but trust me, they’re missing out.
We’re deep in the dead of winter. And for most of us, there’s not a lot to do, and not much to look forward to for the next couple months. But if you’re a hockey player – scratch that, if you’re a pond hockey player -- this is the best time of year.
When I was growing up – not that long ago – we’d come home from school, slip our skates onto our sticks and throw the stick over our shoulders like hobos carrying their knapsacks, then trudge through the apple orchard behind our neighborhood to a pond in the middle of the woods. We’d lace ‘em up and play until it was too dark to see, then put our boots back on and head home for dinner.
On weekends, we;d spend all day down there. Friends of mine who lived near Burns Park and Thurston Pond would come home, eat dinner with their skates on, then go back to the ice for more.
We got more ice time in a single day on those ponds than we got in weeks of indoor practices and games. And it was more fun, too. No try-outs, no scoreboards, no whistles, no drills, no lines, no benches, no coaches, no refs – in fact, no adults at all – and no nets. Just a pair of boots at each end.
I don’t recall once coming back from the pond upset that we’d lost. That’s because we played about a dozen games a day, and whenever one team lost too many, we’d just change teams. I also can’t recall much about the hundreds of indoor practices I endured as a kid, but I can remember those long, happy days on the pond like they were yesterday.
But when you drive by those very same ponds today, you won’t see any kids. They’re all packed in vans, being dragged to some tournament two hours away. And when they get back, they’ll be inside playing video games.
So when my old high school teammate, Pete Read, put together his third annual Michigan Pond Hockey Classic at Whitmore Lake last weekend – one of the nation’s biggest – it was no surprise that almost all of the 500-some players were over thirty.
Read laid out 15 rinks, separated only by snow banks. We played four-on-four, with no goalies or fancy nets – just a flat box of two-by-sixes. Everyone got dressed in one big tent, and sat on hay bales. A hockey locker room is one of the few places on earth where the smell can be improved by fresh hay. The guys getting reading to play could see their breath, while the guys coming back in could watch the steam coming off their pads as they stuffed them back into their bags.
My team, consisting of a bunch of former high school teammates, got our butts kicked in the first two games by margins like 21-14 – football scores. In our last two games, however, we staged heroic rallies to lose by a little less.
But we had a blast all weekend. Until our last game, that is, when the volunteer score keeper – god bless ‘im – decided to play full-time ref, and rule on every out of bounds play and every goal. Before we realized what we were doing, we started sniping and hacking at each other, and the once friendly match quickly devolved into – well, a little league hockey game. Once we told the would-be ref we could handle the game ourselves, we got back to playing pond hockey – and that’s what we love.
One of my friends brought his son along, but he couldn’t play with us because his travel team had a game later that day.
Poor kid doesn’t know what he’s missing.
Copyright © 2010, Michigan Radio
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The pond hockey was a blast both growing up and at the event last weekend!
F.Y.I. City boy. Those were bales of straw, not hay. :o)
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All true, Gerry.
But as to the bales of straw, versus hay -- honestly, what's the difference? (Okay, here comes! Grab your pitch forks everybody! Or, if you're from the Mean Streets of Ann Arbor, like me, your gas-powered snow blower!)
-JUB
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John,
Really enjoyed listening to the "blog cast" on the pond. Brought back memories of skating till your toes fell off and luvin every minute of it.
Keep 'em coming!
Jeff Heald
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Nice Piece John!
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Hello John, My brother Frank sent out your story about pond hockey. I love it! Him and I use to skate on lake St.Clair all the time as kids. Coming from a hockey family and all we knew how to skate well. And yes all those memories. We grew up 5 minutes from lake St. Clair. We walked and skated their all the time. And your right , do we miss pond hockey and just skating outdoors. We grew up with a huge rink in our backyard. God bless my mom and dad, we had snow banks and they were watering it down every night till midnight. It was better than any indoor hockey rink. Smooth as glass! my poor mother froze her hands. We had every kid in the neighborhood over every nite all ages, older and younger. They had the pools in the summer, we had the rink in the winter. It was truely great! My grandaughter is in St.Clair Shores figure skating, she loves it, must be in the blood. We went to an outdoor rink in Grosse Pointe for the first time last week. It was great! the one on Lakeshore Drive, on the waterside. Thanks for your story maybe we can make those memories again with our kids and grandkids. We need to get our city to, once again start flooding the ground by the fire stations or maybe the local parks somewhere. By the way, for all those interested, Lang Calenders and calenders. com, put out a calender every year of twelve months of pond hockey.Every since I have told the hockey parents about this I can barely get one myself, every year , now. Its a great calender, but order early , like in sept. or oct. it sells out real fast now.
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Great Piece John, The ponds where I grew up in New England were around golf courses, this brought back fond memories from my childhood.
Particularly the bag and stick routine and I recall days when the pond was full of kids and a few dads playing pick up games...well done.
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John,
What you describe so well about the fun of pond hockey, without the super organization of recreation and competitive leagues, etc.,applies to baseball, soccer, even football to some degree, and other team sports.
As a kid, I remember full well that choosing up sides, with no refs, whether it be for baseball or soccer, led to the spontaneity and all day fun, that you so aptly describe for all age groups on Whitmore Lake recently.
A tailgate friend of mine, who lives on the shore at Whitmore Lake, just mentioned that he heard you get up on a soap box during some of those games, and "preach to the choir"!
Ah, for the good old days!
Go Blue!
Dr. Ed Kornblue
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Thanks, All -- and fun to see how this resonates with so many of us, thinking back on our days on the ice.
Dr. Ed, you're right: this applies to just about any sport we grew up playing, from stick ball to "Horse."
But I have to tell you, your friend's got the wrong guy. I never got on any soapbox during the hockey tournament - unless you count jawing with an opponent who was in the habit of slashing me and my teammates. On that brief exchange, guilty as charged.
Thanks to all for reading, and writing!
-JUB
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Well done, JU. As Dr. Ed noted, this could be "anysport USA." For me growing up in Indiana it was hoops in the fall and winter, and baseball during the summer.
Anyone else remember rightfield being an automatic out and pitcher's hand being an out because you only had four to a side?
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John, great story, I am sure you will be happy to know that thurston pond continues to host the all day hockey game.
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