Learn-to-Skate, 2008

This morning Tyler started his Learn-to-Skate program with Holy Name Hockey Association. He was thrilled! When we got to the rink, it was a madhouse! Parents and kids were everywhere. Some were signing in, others were getting their jerseys, and a lot of people were just hanging out. After we signed in and collected our jersey, we were directed to a locker room where parents were getting their children all dressed for a morning on the ice. Tyler took it all in stride and just wanted Frank to put his helmet on! He was so excited and so proud to finally get his own coaches and his own jersey:

Unfortunately, the smallest jersey was a small-- no extra-small, no preschooler size! just small! we (like many parents) improvised and rolled the sleeves. Tyler was a pro in the locker room, he went right in and took a seat on the bench and was dressed in 10 minutes.
The children were divided up into skill levels. This is a picture of the "Walker Group." (Tyler is out there somewhere!) There were a lot of kids (and a lot of coaches) in this group. They all looked very similar-- black helmets, white jerseys, and black skates. It was like a game of "Where's Waldo" on the ice! While they were doing their drills I just kept thinking to myself "these coaches have great patience!"-- all of these kids were 3 to 6 years old!
"There you are!" One of the few times he actually looked for us while he was on the ice doing drills! He was so excited-- he listened to everything they told him to do and did it (I think they are on to something....). During drills they practiced starting and stopping, getting on their feet after a fall, and skating backwards.
Here's Tyler making his way across the ice. During the car ride home I asked him what his coaches were telling them out on the ice. He said that they told them to skate to the boards, stop when they heard to whistle, and to go to the big windows (huh?).
Although class was 60 minutes long, Tyler discovered the open door leading off the ice at the 45 minute mark. Who could blame to poor kid? We could tell he was beat! After a bit, whenever they would do a lap he would stop and lean over his walker in pure exhaustion and catch his breath. We took him out and started to get him changed. He was soaked with sweat!

Enjoy the video! It is a bit long and you will see how all the kids looked the same. At the 20 second mark you will see the coach come over and turn him around. What a guy! He was so cute to watch and I can't wait for next week!