Grab a tissue and watch how the WMU Broncos hockey team dedicated a great deal of time during their hockey season to serving a family enduring a season of pain.
If I surveyed hockey parents to ask them why they first decided to enroll their child in hockey, I wonder what the most common answer would be. I’m certain many would say that the underlying reason was because the child asked to play hockey. That’s obviously a good reason. Others might admit that they forced a child to play with the expectation that he or she would eventually grow a love for the sport. Clearly, that’s not such a good reason.
Has a rookie hockey parent ever enrolled a first-born in hockey exclusively for the reason of building good character in the child?
I think it requires hindsight or at least a long-standing family tradition in hockey for a parent to realize that the ultimate benefit of playing hockey is character-building. I finally came to truly understood this benefit only after my fourth son began playing. My understanding was enhanced further once I started playing. Without discipline, self-control, and the willingness to feed and receive passes, a hockey player cannot improve his game. Therefore, as he hones these virtues for the hockey game, he might also apply them in life.
Granted, this character-building benefit is not unique to hockey. Athletes in other sports, musicians, scientists, and anyone dedicated to excelling in any challenging discipline experience a positive shift in character. The shift is a direct result of the tenacity the discipline requires for achieving any degree of success. Talent alone is not enough. Courage and commitment to pursuing excellence are necessary ingredients. Arguably, a sense of compassion for others matters too.
When I first viewed the video of how the WMU Broncos served the Schripsema family, I wondered about the parenting and coaching behind each of these young men. Who nurtured the character of these young hockey heroes?
The Schripsema’s story of how the WMU hockey team brought them joy amidst pain is a lesson to anyone in the privileged role of influencing the character of a child. When parents, teachers, and coaches care about a child, instructing him in a spirit of love and respect, heroic character in that child will take root and grow.
Each child is a seed of a man or woman. When we lovingly and patiently invest time in growing that seed into a mature man tree or woman tree, the fruit that will fall will amaze us. Joy is the fruit falling from the WMU Broncos hockey team to the Schripsema family.
I’ll be rooting for the Broncos in the upcoming NCAA Men’s Hockey Championship tournament. And I’ll be praying for the Schripsema family and praising God for the hockey heroes serving them during their season of need.
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