I'm assistant coach for my son Quade's local hockey team. I'm incredibly proud of the team, not because of their win/loss record (which is dismal at best!), but because of the collective spirit of goodwill they possess.
One day, our head coach Miguel noticed our goalie Robbie was quite upset. Robbie's best friend Christian had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Robbie felt he needed to do something, so Coach Miguel spoke to the team of eleven-year-old boys about Christian's situation, challenging them to come up with ideas on what we could do to help the boy through this trying time. Knowing Christian was an avid hockey player who'd have to take time off for treatment, the boys empathized with his plight and decided theirs would be a gift of hockey.
Christian was invited to attend one of our games, as a guest of honour, with his family. Prior to the game, the kids welcomed him into our dressing room so they could finally meet the guy they had all been talking about for so long. It was fantastic to watch a group of eleven-year-old boys rally around one of their own, shaking his hand, patting him on the back and wishing him well while imploring him to stay strong and positive and to keep fighting... they told him now he was not fighting alone, but with 17 other young hockey players on his side.
Through a lot of hard work, Coach Miguel was able to put together another surprise for Christian. He was presented with a huge card filled with handwritten sentiments from each member of the team. Christian was also given a team jersey and an official Tampa Bay Lightning jersey. Our trainer Tim (a producer at TSN) got a pair of hockey tickets to watch The Toronto Maple Leafs play a home game as well as a bag of other random swag we knew Christian would love. Miguel had also arranged for Christian and Robbie to attend a Maple Leafs practice, the boys were thrilled to be able to meet the whole Leafs team.
Miguel then addressed Christian on behalf of the team so eloquently that there was barely a dry eye in the room full of boys, men and mothers. We then held an opening ceremony featuring a face-off before the game in which Christian was able to drop and keep the puck, to commemorate the event in his honour.
Today, Christian is often the subject of inspiration in our pre-game talks and is a continuing concern to the boys. The experience of getting to know Christian and coming up with ways to help him through his situation, not only raised a lot of important questions from our sons, but also served as a valuable learning experience for them -- a unique experience in teamwork that hockey alone might not have offered.
Through hard work and with the guidance of an incredible coach who is devoted and hard-working beyond the call of duty, our little team has not won a game all season. But the incredible optimism, pride and drive in these 17 players makes us coaches believe that a win for our team and a win for Christian are both in the very near future.
When I talked to Miguel the day after Christian's special event, I told him how honoured I felt to be a part of his coaching staff, as I truly believe we did a good thing and all learned a valuable lesson. Miguel said all he had to do was imagine Christian was his son, and how he would want to see his son treated by peers.
As a father, I couldn't agree more.
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