Blog

The Realization of a Grocery Stick

Posted: Thursday, November 10th Filed in: General

There I was, two-thirds down the bench, stationary. Yes, I was indeed serving as my team’s grocery stick. For those of you who don’t know what a grocery stick is, it is the player who, just as a grocery stick separates your groceries from another’s in the checkout line, separates the defensemen and the forwards on the bench. I came upon this realization the start of the second period of my first MIAC hockey game. I must admit, it humored me at first, being I thought the term was a joke.  However, I learned first hand that grocery sticks do, in fact, exist, and I was one of them.

The transition from South Dakota club hockey and collegiate hockey has been significant, nonetheless my transition from being a defenseman to a forward. Everything is faster, harder, and stronger. Even after putting in hours and hours of training this past summer and a team of people around me helping me achieve my goals, it hasn’t been easy. Despite the challenge, I have loved every second of it. Everyone on my team chose to be here because they love to play hockey, so it makes playing the game so much more enjoyable than in high school. Playing on the Bethel University Women’s Hockey Team has been such a blessing, and I am so thankful to be a part of this team, on and off the ice.

The team environment is quite different than what I experienced in my past 8 years of hockey. Bethel University is a private Christian university, and as a team, we play for the glory of God, not for ourselves. I see being a part of this team as an opportunity to serve my Lord through serving my team by contributing whatever I can, even if that is by encouraging others.  Although being a grocery stick isn’t exactly how I had envisioned my first two college games, I see this as an opportunity to work harder than I ever have before and to not only grow as a player, but as a person.

I once heard that it isn’t fear that will kill you, but complacency. I am by no means complacent with where I am right now; however, I do realize I am in the process of learning a new position, while also adapting to a much faster pace. What more of a perfect opportunity to develop character and improve time management than this? I have recently set goals for myself and know the action steps I need to take with discipline to achieve them. The hardest part of all of this is controlling my thoughts. I find myself listening to myself rather than talking to myself. Sometimes discouragement creeps in and is near impossible to dissipate, but it is my decision whether to give up or get up. With the right perspective, right people, right words, right expectations, and right decisions, I can overcome discouragement with a positive attitude.

In all honesty, if you would have asked me if I wanted to play college hockey eight months ago, I would have said no. Not because I really didn’t want to play, but because I didn’t believe that I could. Joining this team has been one of the most challenging and influential experiences of my life, since it has been entirely out of my comfort zone. I completely put myself out there with the possibility of rejection, and that in itself, for me, is an accomplishment. Now, all I can do is move forward from here, working hard to have intensity, confidence, and skate hard each shift I earn.

“Forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead.” Philippians 3:13

by MIAC Player X