Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/774246
My dearest girl, I am writing you this note to let you know how proud I am. As you conclude your senior season with high hopes of making it to the state tourna- ment, I want to remind you of how far you've really come. When you were 3 years old, you came to me with your brother's hockey stick—which was way too big—and told me that you wanted to play "hokey." I looked at your dad and we shared the same thought: "Here we go again." The next day we were at the local rink for an open skate. You looked like a wobbly deer out on the ice. You clung to my side but saw your brother and others zipping around the ice and you kept moving forward. There were plenty of falls, but you got up each and every time. And you know what, you stuck with it. You stuck with it when you didn't make the 12U A team. You had been on the A team the previous two seasons. Those girls were some of your best friends but you quickly realized—after a night with a tear-soaked pillow—that they still are. Plus, that season you made a whole team of new friends and what a joy it has been to see them join your "friends from the A team" on our backyard pond every winter since. You impressed me with your work ethic. It's not easy being cut from a team, and though you were disappointed, your resilience was something that made me so proud. You gave 110 percent to your coach and teammates. And it paid off. The next year you made the A team—one that even made a run at the Minnesota Hockey State Tournament title. But making the A team never gave you a sense of entitlement. It never made you feel like you deserved that spot and it never altered how you played the game. You continued to give your very best effort at practice and in school. Your work ethic never wavered and that's when the ultimate payoff came: after a year with JV, you made varsity. You wanted to play for the high school team since 8U. You saw them around the rink, we attended their games and you even got to skate with the team. You wanted to be just like them—and here you are. Now young girls in our community are looking up to you. I am thrilled to see you giving back and volun- teering at the youth clinics and events. You are helping grow the sport. And that, my dear, is what I'm most proud of you for. For just playing hockey, a sport that you have taught me to love. Growing up I didn't have the opportu- nity to play girls' hockey. Sure, we could skate with the boys, but there really was never a time that hockey seemed open to me and my girlfriends—or at least not as open as it is to you now. Go get' em, girl. Thank you for teaching me about "hokey" and life. Your biggest fan, Mom MINNESOTAHOCKEYJOURNAL.COM // FEBRUARY.2017 FINAL BUZZER A Letter to My hockey- pLAying DAughter 30 PHOTOS: MINNESOTA WILD And that, my dear, is what I'm most proud of you for. For just playing hockey, A SPORT THAT YOU HAVE TAUGHT ME TO LOVE.