As we approach tryouts next week, we'd like to share with our players and parents some lessons and thoughts.
As a kid I was “cut” from every sport I played, usually more than once. I was either the worst kid on the “A” team, or the best on the “B” team. My best experiences came from being on the lower team. I was captain, leading scorer, and played in every situation on the B team….or I spent most of every game getting splinters sitting on the bench on the A team. It was a different time back then. Things happen for a reason, but looking back these were usually the right decisions.
Please know our coaches, Chris and Charlie, will do their best to make the best decisions for the club, the team, and your child. Hockey is not track, swimming, or golf where scores and times can determine decisions. Hockey is a different sport and coaches see different things in different kids, and none of us are perfect.
The article below is about a man named Ralph Cox. He could be a plumber, a banker, or a lawyer. In this case, he was a hockey player, a great hockey player that was the last man cut from the 1980 Miracle on Ice team that won the Gold medal in Lake Placid. He was cut by the late great Herb Brooks, who himself was the last man cut from the 1960 U.S. Olympic team that won Gold in Squaw Valley. This is a story of overcoming adversity and turning it into a positive. We hope you find it interesting and valuable.
Tom Gullen
WHC Executive Director