A First For Curty

Last night was Curtis' first hockey game! I am so excited for him because he's wanted to play for two years already. I (in the silly, overprotective way that I am occasionally) always thought he was too little. This year, we bit the bullet and registered him for hockey.

Now, just FYI, there weren't enough kids for his age group so they moved all the initiation-age kids up to the Novice team. He's only 6, but he's playing with the 7 and 8 year olds. Let me tell you, they are so much bigger than he is!

Here are some of my favorite pics of the game!

My little hockey man:

Curty is jersey number 6:

The team getting ready to play:

Is that a smile on his face? Or is it just the mouth protector? LOL

I worry a lot, because he is playing up a level, and because it is his very first year. He doesn't know the positions very well (we don't have ice in our rink yet to practice on but the other teams do) and he's not a very strong skater yet. I worry that he'll get discouraged because most of the other players are so much faster and better than him. But I was so proud because he worked so hard last night, doing his best the whole time.

You know what he said after the game? He said:

"Mom! That was so much fun! I even got to touch the puck with my stick a few times!"

It didn't matter that he didn't score any goals. It didn't matter that the other team won by a ton of points. It didn't matter that he lagged behind the rest of the team because he couldn't skate fast enough. It mattered that he touched the puck and he got to play a real hockey game with his Team.

I am so proud of him AND his attitude. It was a great game.