Hockey Moms, you’ve made it! The season is ending, and it’s nearly time for the kids’ last game, celebration, banquet and “tournament.” Pint-sized players and parents want to find some easy ideas to celebrate a great season
Being a hockey mom is awesome! Far better than I even imagined but not without stress and lots of learning! I loved the lessons my 8-year-old and 12-year-old have learned, both on and off the ice. They have learned to listen to instructions from coaches, coach, as well as the consequences of not listening to that same coach. They learned what it feels like to work hard as a team and to try your best. They learned that the outcome and the score is not nearly as important as working together and playing hard.
It’s time for our final game and the end-of-the-season tournament party. I’ve volunteered to help with Ty’s house league “banquet”, so there will be pizza, trophies, music, cake and some of these 10 fun ways that we are celebrating the memorable and wonderful rep hockey and house league hockey season we had together.
1. What’s your team’s colour? Buy tablecloths and decorations in your team’s colours and decorate the dressing room or party room.
2. Frost cupcakes or buy a cake with the team colours!
3. Go team crazy! Maybe your child doesn’t want to shave their jersey number on to the back of their hair like my son did, but you can buy coloured hair spray in team colours and spray on the player’s hair!
4. Make memories! Get some sharpies and get the kids to sign each others jerseys as a reminder of the new friends they made this year.
5. Don’t forget the coaches! Make them wear a silly hat, spray their hair or get them to wear face paint for the last game! We bought our four coaches GREEN moustaches at the party store that they have to wear for the game and party!
6. Buy some fun noisemakers to cheer on the team for their last game! Clappers, cowbells and whistles are all available in colours at any party store. Celebrate with the other parents on the team. (Bring coffees too!)
7. Print some hockey colouring pages and give each child a homemade hockey colouring book (perfect for 4-7 year olds). You can even do some hockey crafts or get hockey temporary tattoos for the kids!
8. A keepsake: Make an inexpensive photo book (great prices at Costco) for members of the team or even just for your own child to remember their season. Print a team photo and mount in a frame with a matte. Get the kids to sign this for the coach!
9. Congratulate your child with a special dinner out, a small gift (like a book about hockey) or even a special hockey stick pendant like this one. It can be personalized with their name and hockey jersey number! It even makes a great Mother’s Day gift for hockey moms!
10. Don’t forget a small token of thanks for the coaches who volunteered this season. A $10 gift card to the Beer Store, Tim Hortons or gas station is a small thank you that will be appreciated. Have your child write them a special note or make a card.
What a season it has been. Lots that we’ve learned, new friends have been made and memories to last a lifetime!
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