Kaslo & District Arena, Kaslo

My first memory of hockey in Kaslo was driving for a half hour on wintry roads to come and watch my husband play with the “hippies”. That was mostly a group from up the lake, north of Kaslo, that have the best ice time - Sunday afternoon (or so I've heard from the other adult groups).
The hockey wasn't all that exciting, but it was a great outing on a Sunday afternoon, considering there was nothing else to do here in the Winter. Public Skating was on just before the Hippies went out on the ice. I remember watching parents and their kids enjoying themselves...though I promised that I'd never be a hockey mom when I had children. Too much committment.
I have two sons now. Both play hockey. I didn't have a choice about being a hockey mom, it just happened. I guess living in small town Canada, who has a choice? My boys love hockey, and so do all their friends. So, who was I to say it's too much committment. They were committed, and as parents then so are we. Kaslo is no easy place to play minor hockey. Our arena opens later then most arenas around here – we just don't have the money and the ice plant to open sooner. My kids have played games with only being able to get one practice in at the start of the year. But we make do, because of the love of the game. Well,their love of the game, and my love of them.
Our roads – you should see them. They are windy, they are narrow, there's a mountain on one side and a big drop into a lake on the other. The closest other arena to us is a one hour drive away. So when we have an away game we have to drive more than an hour each way. Not only are the roads a test to our winter driving skills, but our kids are stuck in a car for more than an hour..and this is all before we even get to the rink. Talk about committment.
Our arena is in operation because of the volunteers in our community. Without all the hours that volunteers put in and without all the funds raised locally we would not have an arena. Last year our old zamboni froze...and our locals got together to bring those propane torches to thaw out the zamboni – the game was delayed by about 15 minutes. Everyone does what needs to be done.
My husband is on the arena board, I'm on the minor hockey board. We both work full time, we have two kids, we have a home to look after – and in the winter we spend more time in rinks then anywhere else. This isn't just our story, it's the story of every parent who has a child that loves hockey. There are people in our community who don't have kids in hockey, or their children are now grown and done with minor hockey and they still donate their time and money to make sure our kids get to play. That's committment.
Hockey, regardless of how contraversial the game is or how emotionally charged it becomes, it's one thing that does bring people of all backgrounds, all political beliefs on the same side. We all cheer for Kaslo Winterhawks.