Field, not ice, hockey ...

2007 Kew hockey team - Grand Final winners!

After watching an ice hockey game here in Calgary a few weeks ago, I decided that I missed playing competitive sport enough to hunt down and join a women's field hockey team.  As soon as I'd found a team, I had my suspicions re-affirmed ... field hockey is not a hugely popular sport in Canada.  The club seemed desperate for players; they put me straight into the A Grade team; and it is close to impossible to buy a hockey stick in Calgary.  Which is how I ended up in Vancouver last Thursday night.  I stopped off in Vancouver on my way back to Calgary so that I could visit a store dedicated to field hockey.  It turned into a very funny afternoon actually.  The taxi driver who took me to the store (way out in the 'burbs) was an interesting guy from Iran and we got chatting about travel and living away from 'home'.  I almost felt sad to get out of the taxi after such an intriguing conversation.  But then, as we pulled up to the store and he realised where I was going, he revealed that he had been the youngest player on the Iranian field hockey team in the 1980 Moscow Olympics!  After some wowing over that, it was decided that he would come hockey stick shopping with me and would then drive me back into downtown Vancouver.  We entered the store and spent about 20 minutes trying the sticks out until I chose a stick that felt good and suited my budget.  So, now I can say that I've played hockey with an Olympian!  After three years of not playing, I'm slightly nervous about my A Grade debut tonight, but fingers crossed, my skills, running fitness and 'hip and shouldering' ability (!) will return quickly.

After note - Due to my ability to procrastinate well, which leads to uni assignments not being written, which leads to major stress, which leads to feeling poorly, I've decided to postpone my hockey debut until next Tuesday night.