What Crazy Things I Do for DCHL

By the One and Only Suds

(NOTE: long but worth the read)

It is funny how things change in just simply less than 3 years.

I love the game of hockey. Now mind you I am not obsessed with it like some die hardcores. But there is no doubt it is the sport of my choice.

Three years ago, I was solidly entrenched in the financial field. I had just recently moved back from the Midwest after a long term engagement did not turn out the way planned. I became involved in ball room dancing circles and started teaching as my side hobby. My dance partner at that time was someone I felt I could settle down with and start a family. But then things with my dance partner did not work out and the economy took a downward spiral. The financial field I was in took the brunt of the beating. I quickly found a high end corporate suit job which turned out to only fortify my belief that working in corporate America for the most part only makes you overvalue the dollar and undervalue the human being. It is all about making the most $$$ without a real and true care on who we use and how we use to get there. I could not sleep at nights. Not for me.

So I had to make a career decision. I chose to leave corporate America and decide to pursue things I love: French, sports, pets, community building and bonding. I discovered Meetup.com and found a floor hockey and flag football league. That particular flag football league now contracts me year round to staff officials for all of their flag football games. I have a staff of 10-12 referees who work for me. The officiating did not stop at football. I added basketball, soccer, and baseball/softball. Shockingly, I have never been trained in any of this. But I have learned the craft. I also took a part time job as a dog walker. Now that job is nearly a full time labor of love with a loyal and increasing clientele base. It has become more than just a dog walking job and much more of pet care career.

The floor hockey league I joined three years back became the center piece of my largest social circle of friends. And it led me to create the DCHL two years ago. I felt that a league should be more than people showing up to play games and someone collecting cash. Why not stats? Why not feature games? Why not competitive balance? Why not social groups? Why not real like game/sports experience for the average Joe who could not play at the professional level? Why not a podcast or weekly show? Why not social events outside of the league?

Well, well, well. Here we are. As I sit here at 3:18 am “producing a podcast” as it saves (tedious process) I am trying to refresh my French and learn the French hockey terms I would need to know to call DCHL’s first ever Feature Game in French this Sunday. What crazy things I do for this league! I don’t have training as a broadcaster. Yet not only will I be calling a game this week (which is now second nature to me) but I will be calling it in French (I do own a French degree). I am not a TV show host. Yet I have learned to segway and be an “on air talent” and analyst. I am not a producer. Yet I have learned how to record/edit games and put them on YouTube. I have also learned how to use Media Maker and other software to create podcasts. And currently with the help of very gracious person, I am learning how to use more complex media software and create transitions/tools that are fun and personally rewarding. I have never played ice hockey or am what you would a detailed “hockey savant/guru” when it comes to rules. Yet, I have put together an initial detailed DCHL rulebook that has recently been revised and touched up by a certified ice hockey ref.

Running a league has taught me more in 2 years than I learned in my enitre college career. Dealing with people and multiple personalities have been an invaluable education in humanity. I have a business degree so the business end of it was not difficult. And my passion and determination have always been assets on which I have relied heavily. But other things such as navigating technology (YouTube, creating music videos, and finding out how to get a website up and running) and learning social media (Facebook, Twitter) are all skills I have now acquired. I have also been so blessed to have so many people (too many to name) help me and the league with their free time, skill, passion and energy along the way.

So how far did I drift off from my path several years back? After all, I still prefer to settle down and have a family. But at this time, DCHL is my family. At some point that will change no doubt to a certain extent. I plan to change certain things in 2014. I much rather go to a play or take in a symphony or orchestra. I much rather make dinner at home. I much rather attend sports events at my choosing. I much rather have more free time to spend time and enjoy the quieter things in life with others. However, for now, I want to solidify the DCHL base for this impending “less hands on” approach to come. What drives me is the current passion I see from our players about floor hockey and specifically about our league. It still amazes me. If I attempt to have the league take a week off (even during the offseason instead of tournaments), I see sad faces. I wonder how many diehards would have a coronary about a week off. I wonder how many more Prozac prescriptions doctors would write that week. I wonder how many more calls the suicide hotlines would take. (Note the sarcasm in the last few sentences, lol. I am over exaggerating but I do feel and heed the disappointment.) So I take solace in the fact that DCHL is at least keeping some of our players “off the streets” and I am doing a service to society (another sarcastic comment). It is scary to think what Jason Sticha would be doing if he was not playing floor hockey in his spare time. (Now that comment was NOT totally sarcastic but still tongue in cheek.) Just let that sink in for a moment and you will find the beauty and appreciation in it all. At least it helps me sleep better when I only have two hours to sleep, lol.

Thus, as I sit here writing this, I realize I have come full circle. Back to my French terms. Back to the podcast. Back to sports. Back to the community we have built and we know as DCHL.