Hockey players open season with team bonding rituals
November 15, 2017
The Homestead hockey players watch their teammates battle through the arctic climb ropes course.
In order to start the season in a good note, the Homestead boys hockey team has gone through a series of team bonding experiences.
On Nov. 3, the high school boys ran the annual six miles from the ice rink in Cedarburg to Homestead. This symbolic task represents the beginning of the season. The players worked together as a team in order to meet the 42 to 48-minute goal.
The challenge was designed as a physical and mental test of toughness. “It began with very cold weather, but we were all ready to begin the tradition. It didn’t’ feel that bad once we got into it,” Will Condon, junior and varsity player, said.
In addition to the players, Paul Sivanich, avid runner and assistant girls cross country coach, also enjoys being part of the tradition every year. This year he ran and rode back with the team. “They have a good, strong, great group of guys this year. I’m looking forward to see how they perform this season,” Sivanich said.
The weekend of Nov. 10-12 signified another aspect of their team bonding experience. At Camp Hometown Heroes in Grafton, both the JV and the varsity players learned more about each other and grew more comfortable as a team. “We went to camp to team bond; we all got to know each other better. I think this is important especially as a freshman, since you don’t know the kids. This camp helps them make new friends. We also learn to trust each other,” Condon said.
Head coach Tony Navarre believes that these events are an important aspect of creating crucial relationships that will reflect the performance of the players on the ice: “The fact that the seniors know every freshman by the time the first game hits and that the freshmen see what it looks like to reach varsity level is kind of a nice little give and take in which everybody gets involved in the program,” Navarre said.
