They get more attention with negativity. Erin checks the post-game report online, and as she expected; whoever posted it was being critical of her performance. She had missed a crucial shot during the game, that would have tied it and sent them into overtime. It seems that as soon as she makes a mistake, people forget that she helps her team win almost every other game.
Hockey has been a part of Erin’s life since grade school, growing from a childhood interest into a passion that has continued to positively impact who she is today. From the age of three, all the way up until seventeen, she has always played for her love of the game. Obviously these past few years had been a little more intense, and a little more serious than her youth hockey years. High school hockey had shaped her into one of the best players in the state since she was a freshman, but that also meant carrying the constant weight of needing to perform perfectly for her team. Usually, this wasn’t an issue at all for her. Erin was a hard worker, she never quit, and that was thankfully recognized by many. However, it seemed like almost everyone but her was allowed to have an “off” game.
People had been congratulating her on an excellent game just hours before this one. Erin was beginning to wonder where all these critics were when she had accounted for four or more points in every game before this. “Is being successful all the time worth it if people only care when I mess up?” she thought to herself. She didn’t want to let this one mistake define her. Erin looked at the clock on her phone that read 11:45 pm. She had just been staring at the post the whole time she was thinking. She immediately put her phone down and went to sleep, knowing she needed to be at 100% for practice the next day.
Erin had a great practice that day, she had been shooting well, reading plays perfectly, and winning the little battles along the boards that mattered. She was feeling good despite the whole team being bag skated until they felt like they were going to puke. It had been at least a day since she felt this confident in her own abilities. They had a big game tomorrow, against one of their well-known rivals in the conference. But she wasn’t going to change a thing about how she played, she didn’t need to.
The next day was game day, Erin and her team hit the ice hard. After warmups they start calling starting lineups. Erin is always the second to last one called, and then her goalie. They call her name, and she skates by her goalie, taps her pads, and makes her way up to the blue line for the national anthem. She always takes this time to herself to lock in, and mentally prepare herself before puck drop. As the words of the anthem echo through the rink, she’s thinking. She knows she can’t control what other people say about her. Tonight, Erin wasn’t going to go out of her way to prove anyone wrong. This wasn’t all about her. What she was going to do was play for herself, and her team, and for the love of the game that she’s always had.
After the game, and celebrating in the locker room a little, Erin got her gear off and walked out to her car with her parents. They congratulated her on one of her best games all season, gave her hugs, and went back to their car. She sat in her car alone for a little while, thinking about the game. What she didn’t do was check her phone for the post-game report. Erin knew she played well, and she knew that other people were still going to find something negative to say, despite her five point performance. She drove home, ate a good dinner, showered, and went to bed. She had an amazing sleep knowing she played well, and didn’t let the negative comments from people who couldn’t do what she did get to her.