The Engleson Files

After having a lovely 4 hour nap (I think a few of the guys broke curfew), the call came pretty early in the morning to get our pond hockey gear ready and meet down in the front lobby of the Star Garden Fashion Business Hotel - we had a new pond to go and play on! While down there, many of us reminisced about last night’s antics (which there were many) and just enjoyed a few key minutes waking up and trying to get the cobwebs out of our heads. One thing you learn very quickly on these Dragons hockey trips is that rest is not something you get a lot of. We were told that there was another pond to go skate on, but little did we know what was actually in store for us: an elementary school with a frozen pond in front of it with young children waiting to watch us play!

Now, from what we were told this particular elementary school is one that has been transformed into a hockey training center for young girls. Basically, the girls who attend go to school and learn the game of hockey as well; also, right next to the hockey pond (not seen in the pictures) is an enclosed field hockey court where lessons are given in that game too. I was never able to find out whether or not this initiative was sponsored by the government, but there was no question that this was a grassroots foundation. The equipment the girls had was pretty aged and it did not look as though there was a lot of it to go around. But with that said, the girls looked very happy and it was evident to see that all involved were doing their very best with what they had.

Soon after arriving, the Dragons laced up their skates and then took to the ice for a few minutes to skate with the girls; for pretty much all of the girls we were the very first foreigners they have ever seen. We then split ourselves into three teams and played a little King’s Court pond hockey action to which the coach/teacher would talk to the girls about how we played the game (I am sure the coach was most disappointed with our back-checking!) The girls all sat happily and watched, cheered us on and would sheepishly come over from time to time and ask to have a photograph. Needless to say, it was a very humbling experience to be regarded in such a high esteem and have them treat us as though we were real live NHL’ers - even though they could clearly see we were not!

Then, once we finished our games we exchanged some hockey jerseys and sticks with the girls and said our goodbyes. This was another one of those priceless moments only to be experienced on a Dragons trip; to see the game of hockey organized and developed at such a grassroots level at this very strange location in China was pretty neat. The girls all had worn down equipment and could barely skate, but they were out there in the cold having fun playing the game of hockey. This school touched us all in many ways that we hope to fund raise for some more equipment and then return one day to hand it over to them. But for now, it was getting late and the team had to go and get ready for our next big game at 1:00pm. However will the Dragons do…?