little rookies

The Dallas Stars built a brand new facility in Mansfield and have a completely free 4-week Rookies program that we took full advantage of.  A week before classes started, we went to pick up jerseys/socks and get fitted for new pads and helmets.  They also measured the kids for their hockey sticks and cut them to size.  Although it was a slow process, I was pretty impressed with the gear and the fact that they get to keep their jerseys and hockey sticks. 

It took a while to get the kids all geared up, but Colby was pumped. He was especially excited that his buddy Logan was doing it as well!

Brooke, on the other hand, was pretty self-conscious about all the pads. She  felt especially out of place because there were hardly any girls in the program.  I tried to just help her focus on this incredible program and about how much fun she was going to have, but she was having a hard time focusing on all of that.  I saw a few little girls getting geared up, so I tried to point out that their parents were probably pointing to Brooke and showing their girls that "big girls" were in the program as well.  That seemed to cheer her up a bit, but she still didn't want me to take her picture. 

So I had to settle for the candid shots...

Then eventually convinced her to pose for one sibling picture...

Despite her nerves, she absolutely loved it!  There really wasn't much structure at all, but they skated freely around the rink and Colby spent quite a bit of time taking shots at one of the goals.

The class was only 30 minutes long, which seemed short after spending 15 minutes getting geared up, so both kids were begging to go to a skating rink after we left!

We missed the next week since we were in Utah, but the following week, Colby had a blast.  Brooke was less than enthused about it.  The program really has no structure, so she kind of aimlessly skated in a small area despite our best attempts at getting her to engage.  One instructor skated past her and started passing the puck back and forth, but it only lasted 5 minutes or so and then he moved on.  I really think she would have enjoyed it if they had more of a structure, but she also wasn't making much of an effort. 

We were supposed to do the public skating session right after the class, but because of a tournament, the skating session was cancelled.  Colby was super disappointed, which Brooke made worse by saying things like, "I didn't want to go skating anyway."  She was really mad at me because I had given her a lecture about her bad attitude and the fact that she was squandering her opportunities, and that really didn't help the attitude :(

They have one week left, so hopefully she can make the most of it. I know Colby will have fun!

Kevin took the kids on their last day because I was hosting a bridal shower at our house.  I was sad to miss it, but I was happy to hear that it ended on a good note. They had a tiny little scrimmage at the end and he said Brooke really enjoyed it, so I guess we'll call that a win.

Logam, Colby, and Brooke

They held a small awards ceremony after the session where each kid received an award for participation.  I can't really say that I would recommend the program unless you have a kid that enjoys just doing their own thing and has a friend to skate with, but they did get free hockey sticks and jerseys, so those might come in handy :)