Davan: The sounds of people yelling and skates on the ice, the smell of sweaty boys and girls. What could this be? Oh yeah… Hockey.

CO: Hi, I’m Cooper. I’ve been playing hockey here at SPA for about two years, and I’ve been playing hockey since first grade.

Davan: That’s Cooper Olson, a tenth grader here at SPA, who is on the boy’s hockey team. There’s also a girl hockey team here at SPA.

AM: Hi, I’m Aurelia. I’m on varsity for the United hockey team. I’ve been playing since I was four years old, and I’ve been on varsity for two years.

Davan: That’s Aurelia Meza, a tenth grader here at SPA as well who’s on the girl’s hockey team.

Davan: Hi, I’m Davan Rosen, and you are listening to Wins and losses, the rubicon podcast where we explore how different SPA students’ lives are shaped by the sport they play.

Cooper: Um, with the hockey team, it really is just like a brotherhood and like all of our teammates are just really, we feel like we really are a family, and I feel like that’s not something you can really get from any other sport.

Davan: Cooper has gained many friendships, and this seems to be a common theme

Aurelia: I met a ton of my super close friends throughout the like 12 years I played hockey, so I think just like meeting some of my closest like best friends has been a huge part of like the community.

Davan: Although the hockey community is great there can be some challenges and setbacks, and I asked cooper if he ever felt like giving up on hockey sometimes.

Cooper: Yeah, I felt that a lot this season. I feel like I wouldn’t really be missed much on the hockey team, sometimes feeling as if I’m kind of just being forgotten about. Just kind of feeling like I said lost.

Davan: Aurelia, on the other hand, felt a little different.

Aurelia: I don’t know if I ever like feel like giving up on hockey like there’s like three weeks didn’t during the season this year, where I was just off. I don’t know what it was. It was not playing very well. And I think like coaching kind of coaching staff got to me in a way to like I wasn’t receiving a ton of like praise not that like you need praise every day. But just like having that praise, like helps me play better personally. But I think there was like yeah like I said that three-week time period where I was just off, and I was so done, and I just did not want to play during that time.
Davan: With that bringing down both cooper and aurelia’s mood, there’s also school that adds a lot of stress.

Cooper: I remember specifically during last year, it got really hard during winter because winter is already just kind of it can be a little depressing for some people. So it was a little hard because I was dealing with a lot of stress stress, a lot of stress from just I was a swing player last year, so trying to get homework done while going to two practices and two sets of games. Each week was difficult because I was trying to find time to get stuff done with the little amount of extra time I had already

Aurelia: managing school and hockey like there has to be a balance and it’s kind of hard sometimes like especially like getting done with practice, or games late and then still having a ton of schoolwork and homework to do and like studying. So I think just like managing homework and like having to manage has been kind of difficult especially at SPA since the workloads are really big. But I feel like I’ve been able to manage that recently better than I have been just because I’ve I’m like two years into the hockey and like getting used to having it every day and managing so like, as time goes on I think it’s been easier.

Davan: Not only did Cooper and Aurelia have to deal with the pressure and stress of school but also the performance pressure.

Cooper: It’s challenging to be able to keep going on with the same sport, if it’s causing you this much pain and how much you’ve you felt like you’ve kind of just been forgotten about it’s kind of hard to stay with it even though you’ve you know that you’re not in the best spot right now and it’s they keep on telling you to power through and that it’ll teach you character but it’s it’s really hard as a 16-year-old kid to go through this and getting screamed at by coaches for not playing well. Enough. While you’re still trying to deal with pressures because we all have our own battles within our own lives, but it’s, it makes it harder when you have this sport that you used to love. Now kind of draining your energy and draining your emotions. Already to go along with the stuff you’ve been dealing with

Davan: For Aurelia, performance pressure looks a little different.

Aurelia: I think like another stressor too, would be just like having, feeling the need to perform. Like for me, especially I feel like I always have to have a good game like, I mean, personally, I feel like I disappoint my dad who’s been like my biggest hockey influence if I don’t have a good game and I feel like I receive a lot of pressure for him to perform really well. So I feel like when I don’t it’s kind of like lets him down but also myself in a way cuz I like I know I can do better. But like just not being able to play to my normal level. I think just like takes a toll on me, which isn’t amazing.

Davan: With all the hardships of playing a sport at SPA, Cooper and Aurelia have built long-lasting friendships and do something they enjoy.

Davan: Thank you so much to Cooper Olson and Aurelia Meza for agreeing to be interviewed and sharing your story. Once, Again I’m Davan Rosen and this has been Wins and Losses.

Music: www.bensound.com