Ice hockey. A game that people don’t know much about. Because ice hockey isn’t offered as a school sport, not many people understand the sport or what it takes to play.

Like every sport, it takes time to become skilled. I started skating at three years old, started learning how to play at four years old, and started officially playing on a hockey team at five years old.

I played house hockey until I was ten years old and I decided to start playing travel hockey because I wanted more of a challenge. Once I made the switch, I noticed that the game was much more fast paced than house league. I also noticed that my teammates and competitors were more skilled and more at my level. Having teammates who are just as good as me, makes the game more fun because it makes me work for my success.

Although the switch from house to travel was good, it began to take up a lot of my time. I was expected to put in a lot of effort and make the team my priority. This had a lot of strain on my school work because much of my time was dedicated to hockey.

It’s a lot more difficult than school sports because I have to travel up and down the East coast and I practice far away from my house. I also have games every weekend which makes it a lot more time-consuming than school sports, which have their games during the week.

On top of the long practices and weekend games, I have to worry about homework. If I don’t manage my time wisely, I have to stay up long hours to finish all my school work.

Hockey is also more challenging than other sports because you travel at 20-25 miles per hour constantly going back and forth which requires good conditioning. You have to score against six opponents that are trying to wreck you, and the physicality is at a higher level than other sports.

The sport is a lot more hazardous as well because it’s easier to get concussions, broken bones, teeth knocked out, and any part of your body cut open because of the sharp skates.

Despite the danger, hockey is a unique winter sport that many people should get involved in. It is held on a sheet of ice with people going back and forth with action always happening on defense and offense.

It’s really interesting to watch because of how fast paced it is.

The fans are always really involved which creates a great atmosphere when you attend a game. It’s also fun to watch because there are big hits, fast plays, great scoring, and most of all, fights.

Another great aspect of hockey is fighting. If a pair of guys get mad or angry at each other, they drop their gloves and start punching each other until one wins. Contrary to popular belief, fighting gets you a trip to the penalty box.

Although the participants of fighting get a penalty, it gets the crowd hyped. When the crowd is hyped, it adds to the overall atmosphere of the game.

I have actually gotten into a couple fights. I have thrown hands and punched an opponent multiple times. I got a penalty, but my team got hyped up so I thought it was worth it.

Overall, I think hockey is a great sport. I believe that AHS should start its own hockey team. Other schools in our district like Edison, Woodson, and Bishop O’connell have their own hockey teams.

There are numerous students at  AHS who participate in ice hockey already. The school should start to plant the idea of a hockey team to see if other students are interested and get feedback from students and their families.

I think it would be a successful program because many students are already skilled at the sport and any Atom has the ability to learn and develop skills for ice hockey.

Just because hockey isn’t offered at AHS and it’s a little different from most sports, that doesn’t mean that you should be discouraged from getting involved. It’s a lot of  fun and you get to meet interesting people outside of school.