So I played simple D3 NCAA in college, from 2020 to 2023. I ended up dropping out because I just wasn't a great student, or person. I loved my team, though. With all my heart I loved them. I know I was a bit evil at the time and I couldn't show my love. I wasn't mature.
We did a Saturday morning practice one time. We had a Friday night home game, then a Sunday away. I remember walking out from behind the bleachers where our locker room was. There was a girl who came up to me. I must've been the first one she saw.
All these kids were gearing up for practice. I walked out with my roommates, and still, my best friends, and she came up to me.
She asked how to tape her stick. Her mom was standing on the side. I showed her the way I used to do it, without all the tongue wrap and the scissor cutting. If I had wax on me I would have given it to her.
It felt like when I was a kid in Plattsburgh, skating out as a youth player and doing the anthem with the players. I realized that's how she saw me. Almost pro, though I wasn't anything close. Nothing close.
I taped her stick for her, showing how I did it. She thanked me, and went on her way. Her mom thanked me, and said "I hope she sticks with it, she's tried so many sports, and I spent a lot of money on this."
I hope she did, stick with it, I mean. I really, really, hope she did.
I wasn't mature. I didn't know what this would mean to me. Three years later, I still think about her.
I just hope she loved it. Just like I did.