This week marks the 100th day of school for my elementary school-aged children. My 8-year old daughter’s class was assigned a project to commemorate this milestone — they could do anything they wanted that had to do with the number 100. Nicole is a young hockey player and she wanted to do a video to demonstrate some of the skills she has learned from her minor hockey coaches as well as her coaches at home… myself and her two older brothers, Alec and Sean (most of the latter acquired in the garage or on the backyard rink).

I don’t know how many of you have young daughters or how many are hockey players but I cannot tell you enough about how much I enjoyed helping her to produce this video. It was a great dad / daughter collaboration. Like many kids her age, Nicole has a bright way about her (note: the boys’ soccer coach nicknamed her “Sunny” last summer). She has gigantic blue eyes and an infectious smile. Well, her eyes absolutely lit up when I agreed to help with this video. But there were a couple conditions… While I would provide technical assistance, she was responsible for choosing the skills to demonstrate as well as the music selections… And of course, she (and she alone) was to be the “demonstrator” in the video. She’s the definition of a self-starter so none of this was a problem.

The result is the video you see below. I can’t even describe the pride in her voice when she told her brothers and mom about it and asked if they could watch it… NOW. She was beaming when she walked out the door this morning in anticipation of presenting it to her class. I hope it went well (I’m sure it did).

And I must say, when I watch the video, I notice that she’s a pretty darn good little hockey player. She currently plays mostly with boys (because they dominate the sport in numbers) and she keeps up very well. If you’re a mom or dad wondering whether or not to put your daughter in a hockey program, my advice is to do it if that’s what she wants to do. My daughter has tried basketball, volleyball, and even dance… but none of those stuck. She wants to play hockey (just like her bros) and when I see the pride she takes in playing and practicing… how could I ever say no?