USA Hockey Magazine

January 2013

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By Barbara Ann Banks Late Night Warriors Love Of The Game Keeps Adult Hockey Players Coming To The Rink At All Hours The camaraderie in the locker room is a big part of what keeps adult players involved in this great game. It���s 10 o���clock on a cold and rainy autumn night, and still they arrive. They gather in cramped cinderblock cells to suit up in familiar armor as they prepare for the nightly challenge. One by one they emerge and step onto a frozen expanse. Three inches taller than when they arrived, they balance on narrow pieces of sharpened steel as they fly around the glassy sheet. As the whistle sounds and bedlam ensues, it���s quickly evident that this isn���t your typical Friday afternoon softball game. This is serious fun, and these competitors take it very seriously. They are fast and strong as they move with an abundance of energy and a lack of fear.��These are not professionals, and certainly not kids. They are adult hockey players who are here for the love of the game. Among them is 25-year-old Jake Drengwitz, who lives and breathes hockey. He is a full-time player on one adult team and stands ready to serve as a substitute with several others. ���It���s not unusual to see me at the rink every day of the week,��� he admits.�����I enjoy the sport and love the game itself.��It���s a chance to be a part of a team, and it���s great exercise.��I will play hockey at any time.��� These sentiments beg the question, what drives a person to show up at an ice rink late at night, in freezing temperatures, to play such a rigorous sport after a long day at work?��Or family commitments? Or a full college course load? According to USA Hockey, adult hockey membership has soared to new heights as the program continues to attract former youth players back into the game, and welcomes newcomers for the first time. Membership during the 2011-12 season reached 155,756, a 4.05 percent increase over the previous year. ���� Are they supremely dedicated, or just plain nuts? Just ask Andy Banks, who plays adult league ice hockey at The Garden���s Ice House in Laurel, Md., which ranks eighth in registration out of 630 adult hockey leagues in the country. ���Hockey has always been a part of my life,��� the 21-year-old University of Maryland student says while taking a break from his kinesiology studies.�����It���s fast paced and exciting. There is nothing like scoring a goal.��� Despite his busy academic curriculum, Banks shows up no matter what day of the week or the time of day his local league schedule dictates. ���The adult games are held late at night to provide the earlier ice times for youth hockey, figure skating and public skates,��� he says pointing out a simple fact of life for adult league players. He is joined in the locker room and on the ice by doctors, lawyers, computer analysts, police officers and college students.��The majority are men, but there is a growing number of women getting in on the fun. Among them is Melissa Mumma, a 37-year-old assistant to the registrar at a local community college, who plays on two adult teams���a women���s team and a co-ed team with her husband, Greg. Her 8-yearold daughter also plays youth hockey.�� When it comes to her commitment to the game, Mumma is in for a penny, in for a pound. She serves as the commissioner USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM JANUARY 2013 31

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