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With any family it’s a challenge to find balance while engrossed in work, homework, activities and personal lives. Toss in hockey and it can be a true juggling match. One family found a way to bring harmony to their hectic family lives—ironically, through hockey.
The Cunninghams are a lot like most families today with their children well into their third and fourth years of playing hockey for two different leagues (including practices and tournaments), parents who work busy jobs, kids with growing homework demands and activities, and a burning desire for family down time.
Al Cunningham also coaches his son’s teams, which you would think adds another level of angst to the mix, but not for this positive dad. “Hey, I figure I’m going to be there anyway, I might as well help any way I can.” Growing up in Canada, Cunningham played hockey from the age 4, so he knows the sport well.
Like many other hockey playing kids, they pick up another sport off season, so there is little down time in sports. “My boys play lacrosse and it really is a sport that crosses over well with hockey,” Cunningham explains. When I asked him where the balance is in his family life, he replied with a smirk, “I talked to my wife about this and she sort of laughed because we are all very busy, but somehow, it works.”
In the beginning of the season Cunningham talks to the hockey families on his team, and always stresses that school comes first. “I tell the kids and parents that we all have to respect school.” He continues, “This is a competitive sport and it is great for the kids, but they have to learn to be organized and get their homework done on time. They have to get skilled at time management.”
The Cunninghams truly found balance with their hockey families. He explains, “Hockey families are a tight-knit group. Honestly, my boys’ hockey friends are some of their best friends because they have so much in common. And, it is the same with the parents. Some of our closest friends are other hockey team parents.”
Hockey families help each other out, too. “We all understand what each other is going through and we know the challenges of having to get our kids to different places at the same time. Most of our vacations (tournaments) are with the hockey families as well, and we really enjoy our time together,” he shares.
While tournaments do present traveling vacation time for the hockey families, or at least portions of them, they do spend time in the summer with their immediate families back in Canada. “We also love to go camping in the spring and summer, so that is how we escape on weekends, or even take day trips to Water World,” says Cunningham.
Some of the families even help the parents get some quality time together. “Our good friends offer to taker our boys on sleepovers so my wife and I can have a night alone. And we do the same for them. This is how close our families are thanks to hockey,” describes Cunningham.
Hockey team benefits:
- The kids learn how to be team players
- They learn how to be supportive teammates
- Parents share the same values and become integrally supportive of each other’s families
- The kids develop deep friendships through camaraderie
- The kids learn the importance of commitment and the responsibility that comes with it
- They learn in an environment that fosters integrity, respect and fairness
- They learn about the rewards that can come from hard work as well as the disappointments that can be encountered along the way, both valuable life lessons
“I mean, we are always on a team in life, and if we can help our kids see this and learn from it, then we all benefit.”
Cunningham tells the story of one hockey mom who married into the sport on her second marriage. “She thought it was ridiculous how much money and time was spent on hockey. After many years of following the team, families and kids, she said it was all money well spent and her kids were running with the right crowd. It’s like the motto of the Colorado Youth Hockey Foundation, ‘A kid on ice is not in hot water.’”
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