How Hockey Changed My Life Essay

My family has always been a sports family. Ever since I can remember the entirety of my life outside of school has revolved around sports. For my dad it was soccer, a sport which I played and enjoyed but unlike my parents, when they were younger, I had a burning desire to play hockey. Hours of running wildly around my house dressed in goalie equipment, finally convinced my parents to sign their 5 year old up for timbits hockey. I enjoyed playing the game for many years to follow, and still do to this day, but there came a point where I was not getting what I wanted out of playing hockey competitively. It was at this point when I made the sporting decision that forever changed what I spent my time doing. For the early stages of my hockey career, …show more content…
My dad owned a road bicycle and I watched the occasional stage of the Tour de France with him, but relative to those involved with the sport I knew nothing. It was at a hockey game where my dad discovered the National Cycling Centre Hamilton, a youth centre club based in Ancaster Ontario. When he told me of his findings I wasn’t totally opposed to what he was saying but definitely nervous. I spent some time reflecting on my past and eventually came to the decision that I would go with my dad to check it out. Regardless of my decision I remained anxious of going. Walking into a room full of strangers, who are part of a world you know little about was hard for a shy 12 twelve year old boy.
I mustered up the courage to get on an indoor computrainer for a ten minute race against the other kids already enrolled in the developmental program. To be honest I had know idea what I was doing, I wasn’t familiar with drop down handle bars and didn’t know how to change gears. Oddly enough I managed to win the race, on my first time on a road bike. For those 10 minutes my body hurt like hell but when I finished I felt amazing. I decided to pursue the sport of cycling and keep riding for the summer to come, and I loved