Michael Broersma, our Worship Zone Co-ordinator, has been after me for a couple of years about coming out and watching one of the church league hockey games. “Tell me when Hope Fellowship is playing Zion CRC,” I said. “This Saturday night,” he told me last week. So off I went, trading the cozy warmth of my home for their 10 p.m. game at the UOIT’s Ice Centre.
There were four fans in attendance. Jeff was there to watch his son, Andrew, play goal for Zion. Marg was there to cheer for her husband, Ray. Len was there to support his two sons, Mike and Paul. And then there was me.
We watched the pre-game warm-up. Then the two teams met at centre ice, formed a circle and did something that I’ve never seen before at a hockey game. The players doffed their helmets and bowed their heads while someone prayed.
Church league hockey has a reputation for being exceptionally rough. Perhaps it’s a way of letting the world know that Christians aren’t wimps. Whatever the reason, church hockey is often punctuated by arguments and even fights, a sad sight and a poor witness. Apparently our own church hockey league was no exception, until someone suggested bringing both teams together for prayer at the start of each game.
The match began and the four of us settled in to watch. What we got was an entertaining game with plenty of effort, lots of goals and much to cheer about. Zion got off to an early lead. Hope Fellowship battled back, finally losing to Zion 7-5.
I caught up with the team in the locker room. They were sweaty, happy and still laughing about the goal that Mike Broersma accidentally swatted into his own net! Laughter, instead of anger! That’s the gracious response that you can expect from your teammates when your league’s approach to hockey is to “pray and play.”
- Pastor Peter
There were four fans in attendance. Jeff was there to watch his son, Andrew, play goal for Zion. Marg was there to cheer for her husband, Ray. Len was there to support his two sons, Mike and Paul. And then there was me.
We watched the pre-game warm-up. Then the two teams met at centre ice, formed a circle and did something that I’ve never seen before at a hockey game. The players doffed their helmets and bowed their heads while someone prayed.
Church league hockey has a reputation for being exceptionally rough. Perhaps it’s a way of letting the world know that Christians aren’t wimps. Whatever the reason, church hockey is often punctuated by arguments and even fights, a sad sight and a poor witness. Apparently our own church hockey league was no exception, until someone suggested bringing both teams together for prayer at the start of each game.
The match began and the four of us settled in to watch. What we got was an entertaining game with plenty of effort, lots of goals and much to cheer about. Zion got off to an early lead. Hope Fellowship battled back, finally losing to Zion 7-5.
I caught up with the team in the locker room. They were sweaty, happy and still laughing about the goal that Mike Broersma accidentally swatted into his own net! Laughter, instead of anger! That’s the gracious response that you can expect from your teammates when your league’s approach to hockey is to “pray and play.”
- Pastor Peter
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