DEL.ICIO.USMetro Atlanta hockey moms: We’re cute and we’ll kick your butt
Like Sarah Palin, these women spend long hours, lots of money taking care of athlete children
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, September 05, 2008
Yes, they wear lipstick, and they smile sweetly.
But behind those sweet smiles are some sharp teeth. And hockey moms aren’t afraid to use them.
Pete Wenzell/Special
Adele Wenzell of Lake Oconee, is a Buffalo transplant, Sabres fan and a no-nonsense hockey mom. ‘You are driven for success, your whole family drives for success.’ Wenzell’s stepson, Patrick Wenzell, plays goalie for the Midget Thrashers.
J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press
Local hockey moms say Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is welcome to come play on their team.
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“I was a marshmallow when the kids were younger,” says hockey mom Suzanne Kelly of Suwanee. “But when you see your kids get broken bones, get knocked out, doing flips, you really sort of turn into a werewolf. You feel yourself transforming. You don’t even know that side of yourself.”
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Beware the power of the hockey mom. She will put thousands of miles on her car, plunk down hundreds of dollars for helmets and pads, put dozens of Band-Aids on her hockey child — and put a hurt on you, if necessary.
The spitfire performance of vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday hit home with hockey moms all over the country, who understood her joke comparing them to pit bulls all too well.
“It’s a passion, it’s a breeding, it’s a certain kind of person,” says Adele Wenzell of Lake Oconee, a Buffalo transplant, Sabres fan and a no-nonsense hockey mom. “You are driven for success, your whole family drives for success.”
Wenzell’s stepson, Patrick Wenzell, 14, plays goalie for the Midget Thrashers, a travel league team with a home base at the Ice Forum in Kennesaw. “You want to see your sibling, your son, your daughter, win. It doesn’t come from just playing a sport, it comes from a way of life.”
Most Southern hockey moms appear to be transplants from the north.
Adele Wenzell’s grandparents had Sabres season tickets, and Adele spent her game time in the nose-bleed seats, where the crowd gets loud. “Hockey was everybody’s life,” she said.
Hockey is gaining popularity in Georgia
In football-obsessed Georgia, the sport is growing slowly, she says, its progress helped along by dedicated parents willing to drive kids to six practices a week.
Kelly, a Michigander, had her son on the ice (on double-runner skates) when he was 2 1/2, in a Mini Mite league.
“When we moved here [in 1996] we were the hockey pioneers,” she says. Now hockey has become a letter sport at South Forsyth High School, where her son Niall, 17, is a senior and a member of the team. His big brother Connor, 21, plays hockey for the University of Georgia.
The youngest players are too little to dress themselves or haul their own equipment; Mom has to be there to tie the skates and ice the injuries. In the older leagues, where kids start getting checked, Mom takes it personally.
“It makes me want him to check back,” says Anne Holt of Johns Creek, whose son David, 12, is in a Pee Wee Major team with the Duluth Junior Thrashers.
The professional version of the hockey mom is the agent, says Kevin Kerr, hockey director at the Marietta Ice Center. As coach of the Flint (Mich.) Generals, he had to battle plenty of those.
“I’m not sure who’s meaner, the mom or the agent,” he says. “It’s the mama bear and the baby bear. Hockey moms take it a lot more personal.”
Long days for hockey moms
Days start early for hockey moms. “Some practices start at 6 a.m., and no rink is 10 minutes from your house in Atlanta, so you’re leaving your house at 4:30 in the morning,” said Stephanie Saponari, whose son Vinnie, a freshman at Boston University, just got drafted by the Thrashers.
Weekends, with tournaments in Tennessee, or Florida, or Washington, D.C., start even earlier. You get used to homework and meals in the car, and extra jobs that subsidize the expensive equipment and travel. But still, it’s family time, says Linda Preston, an East Cobb hockey mom to Brian, 16, and Matt, 18.
“How many people can say they’ve spent every weekend with their 17-year-old?” she says.
“I wish I had been a hockey mom,” says Kaylene Johnson, author of the Palin biography “Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down.” Published in April, it just jumped into Amazon.com’s Top 20.
“I heard two moms in a coffee shop this weekend and one said, ‘You know, the hockey moms are way tougher than the soccer moms,’” Johnson adds.
About 18 hockey moms gather every Thursday at the Marietta Ice Center to play their own game of hockey. Until the Lady Knights — their tentative team name — began practicing about a month ago, some had never been on skates. They use hand-me-down equipment from their kids, and they’re getting better all the time. Palin, Preston says, is welcome to join them.
“Now they’re really seeing what their kids are going through on the ice, and it’s not as easy as it looks up on the stands,” Preston says.
But you can tell where their kids get their drive.
“They are hell on wheels,” Preston says. “You see those kids and go: ‘I know who your mom is.’ “
— AJC staff writer Phil Kloer contributed to this story.
Comments
By mom from Maine
Sep 17, 2008 1:57 PM | Link to this
Palin has not been engaged in matters of foreign policy during her tenure as mayor of Wasilla or as governor of Alaska. That was painfully clear in her interview on ABC. She quite confidantly said that war with Russia (a nuclear armed nation!) might be a necessary consequence of defending Georgia. Nuclear War? Over Georgia? No thanks! She just doesn't grasp what's at stake. She has a great persona and her story is fun and interesting. But I am making my choice based on the issues, and who seems to be better prepared to lead this country in in a better direction.
By Matt H
Sep 10, 2008 12:49 PM | Link to this
Sarah Palin makes me want to puke blood. My love for hockey may yet drive me to Canada, pending November's election. I've just about given up hope on this f'in country.
By Truth
Sep 9, 2008 2:46 PM | Link to this
Can some of these Hockey Moms play for the Trashers? The Trashers suck right now and they need all the help they can get!
By Norm
Sep 8, 2008 9:48 AM | Link to this
To all you "nut jobs" out there who seem compelled to drag politics into everything, this article was intended to draw some attention to a great sport that is gaining interest in a non-traditional market. Lighten up!
By Don
Sep 6, 2008 3:42 PM | Link to this
You know, what upsets, and really scares the hell out of me, is the realization that there are probably many of these "hockey moms", and other moms, who vote, and who are stupid enough to buy into the nauseating, and condescending, GOP tripe blathered by the "spitfire", Palin. She didn't even write the speech, for Christ's sake! Intelligent, educated moms, and dads too, should feel embarrassed, abused, and p'offed at such a blatant attempt at dumbing down the female gender.
By Jim B
Sep 5, 2008 9:57 PM | Link to this
The Puck Stops Here
A wise man once said ýIf you are attentive and responsive to the smallest of details of any thing you are involved in you will certainly be well equipped and experienced to take on the cumulative effect of multiple details as they become one large issueý Sarah Palin has proven personal and political experience with the small and large issues.
Palin has and is still raising children and is a responsible parent. She has been a responsible mayor and a highly successful and responsible governor for several years as well. Palin has the experience to be responsible and tackle the smallest and the larger of lifeýs issues. She is a proven responsible leader in all respects of personal and political life great and small.
This country was founded on families and is strong when the families are strong and weak when families are weak. Sarah Palin being an example of a responsible parent used her personal experience and credibility to lead in her community as well as in local and state governments. She has already proven to be an effective leader as mayor and governor for years.
Being a good soccer, baseball, football, lacrosse, volleyball, basketball and hockey parent does lend some great values of good strong character traits for effective leadership. Good parenting and fair play sports values are strong effective leadership qualities that are some of the best foundational qualities anyone could ever posses for life and have so as to hold any office in government or the private sector. Those who have experienced the values of being a good parent and good sports participant or sport parent can tell you of the wonderful experiences they have learned.
This country definitely needs some like Sarah Palin who can and will stand up for her family and country as a pit bull to defend them both. This country definitely desires a leader like Palin who as a parent has tackled her responsibilities successfully on a personal level and has tackled responsibilities successfully as well on a public level by holding offices at the local and state government levels. With her successful record at the local and state level she will fair well to assist taking on and tackling the issues of this country in Washington on a national level.
Palin and McCain are on the right side of the issues that families in America really care about today. Those issues that face us today are energy independence, education of our children, jobs and income, health care, privacy issues and national security. Palin will be able to relate to women, children and family issues like no one else in history has done before. The experiences of the issues and concerns that Palin has shown to tackle on a personal level are reflected in her taking on the issues at the local and state levels. Palin will show the same tenacity and leadership for the issues and concerns that she will have to face and tackle on a national level. The concerns and issues on the personal level as well as the local and state level concerns and issues are one in the same as the national level of concerns and issues. Individual and personal issues are national issues.
Besides Sarah Palinýs experience I think the biggest issue the opposition will have to face with her is that she is a women and a strong one at that.
If there is one slogan that best describes Sarah Palin it is ýThe puck stops hereý
Sarah you go girl!
Jim B
Hockey dad and coach
By Liz Goddard of hockeymoms.com
Sep 5, 2008 1:26 PM | Link to this
I have never seen a pitbull wear lipstick. However I have met a lot of hockey moms. Here's one account of the multi-talented, dedicated women they are.
The Hockey Mom
Behold the hardy Hockey Mom
Up before daylight
Movements quick, determined
Coffee mug held tight.
Lacing lessons, kneeling
Hockey bags that smell
Flooding rinks at bedtime
Hockey tales to tell.
Most Hockey Moms play Center
Menus, driving, cheers.
Onboard Homework Hotline
Pre - game jitters, fears.
Postýgame conversations
Hot chocolate, steaming mugs
Jerseys in the laundry
Post-game hockey hugs.
So watch out for the Hockey Mom
Distinctive, active, gritty
Spirit hockey center
One per family ý pity!
Liz Webster Goddard ý www.HockeyMoms.com 2007
p.s. Although Palin's comment was meant to be funny and endear her to the common man, I feel it perpetuates unfortunate stereotypes of both the sports mom and pitbulls. We may have to be tough but few of us are mean.
By Glue
Sep 5, 2008 10:45 AM | Link to this
You clicked here, read the article, AJC sold advertising space on this page, mission accomplished.
By Yolanda
Sep 5, 2008 10:20 AM | Link to this
It's because of nonsense like this that we're the butt of the joke in other countries, and why our children are so intellectually delayed. Just for once, can we get some real "news?" Just once.
By phillygirl
Sep 5, 2008 9:21 AM | Link to this
Hockey mom, football mom, basketball mom, baseball mom...WHO CARES?? I don't give a crap if my next presdident or vice presidnets kids play keno in their spare time...the only thing that I care about is that my next president/vice is willing to do what ever it takes to make this country great again. I don't want my leader to more concerned about their own personal convictions or what's going on in their own family, I want them to be concerned with the American people, ALL OF THEM.
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