Christie Honor – Etobicoke Juniors
Ever since I was four years old, I’ve been playing hockey. For the past two years I’ve been lucky enough to be apart of the Etobicoke Junior hockey organization, and for two years before that with the Etobicoke Dolphins Bantam and Midget teams- winning the LLFHL playoff titles both years. Before moving over to the Dolphins organization, I spent most of my minor hockey career playing with the Mississauga Terriers of the GTHL. In my time playing with the Terriers, we were fortunate enough to win three city championships and one provincial championship! Although I learned a lot from my experience playing boys hockey, Etobicoke has always been very welcoming to me. In just a few years in this organization, I have learned so much, and grown as both a player and a person. For this, I have to thank my coaches and of course my teammates who have become best friends to me.
Other than hockey, I like to spend a lot of my time being active. I enjoy playing badminton, field hockey, running, and training. As for school, I am currently in grade 12 at Lorne Park S.S, and am looking forward to the opportunity of playing NCAA division 1 hockey next year at Dartmouth College. Often when I tell people about this, they ask me about getting good grades at school and playing well on the ice, and how to balance them among countless other things. For me what it took was hard work both on and off the ice. It’s about pushing myself everyday and working extra hard to keep up my grades at school, and that, I feel, has made a huge difference for me.
A definite obstacle for me during this whole process came in my first year of Junior. I got quite sick with a bug after coming back from a school camping trip. I was out of the lineup for over a month and felt like I was missing out on a lot of opportunities on the ice. However, I finally began feeling better, and was back practicing with the team by the beginning of February. It was definitely hard for me to miss out on so much of the season, including games where my future coaches would be watching. Although when I think about it now, and put this situation in perspective, it isn’t a very big deal. I’m back in the game, healthy, and even stronger than I was before, and for that I am thankful.
For me hockey has always been my life. I love coming to the rink everyday and working to get better both on and off the ice. Throughout my minor hockey “career”, I’ve been lucky enough to have played under many great coaches who have taught me everything I know about hockey and life, especially Brad Wiseman, Kain Tisi, Roger Bourbonnais, and Jess Turi. I’ve also been fortunate enough to have met so many amazing friends in my teammates, who to this day continue to push me, and are a huge part of the reason why I love coming to the rink.
If you are a player, trainer, coach or manager, we invite you to submit an article telling us your story. Please send your story to Erifili Morfidis
Previously: Athlete’s Corner – Alison Hanson