I had a career as an amateur athlete playing field hockey. While I was playing hockey, I put myself through university. But I wasn't really earning any money apart from some federal funding for field hockey, so I ran a business as a house painter. It was kind of a short career, but I spent at least 10 years doing it. Then, in my early thirties, I transitioned into teaching once field hockey kind of ended. I realized that painting was quite physical, and while I enjoyed it at that age, once I thought about it more, I realized I couldn’t keep doing that.
My partners and I went pretty hard when we worked, and I couldn't keep the same pace at this age. So I went to university. I started taking some English classes and really enjoyed them, and I had in my mind that maybe I would like to be a teacher or a counsellor. But once I started enjoying the English lit classes at university, it kind of dawned on me that maybe I would enjoy being an English teacher and the chance to work with young people and hopefully appeal to them in some way.
I haven't played field hockey seriously for maybe 10 years, but I'd say I still notice that there's an absence. It was such a big part of my life because I was coaching and playing. I have not found anything to fill my life to that degree. And so, it's an interesting thing for me to consider, and I think it would be healthy for me to try and fill the void more than it is being filled right now.
In the summertime, when we're up on the coast, I spend a lot of time on the water—on my paddle board doing some fishing, which I really enjoy. I like the lifestyle there and I like being outside. Even, you know, harvesting firewood, dropping wood, just doing very simple things that are kind of necessary. Having the cabin is a very nice outlet and I feel so comfortable because my life in the city teaching is totally something different. It’s something for me to enjoy and look forward to.
Something I really remember that was a very interesting lesson for me was when I was doing my practicum at UBC for teaching and I was right in the thick of hockey. I was so busy, but yet I feel like it was a time when I was really excelling and, it helped me realize more about myself. I found that I'm reasonably capable and that I'm probably at my best when I feel a little bit too busy rather than not busy enough. There's that expression, if you want something done, give it to someone who's busy.
I wish I enjoyed my victories a little bit more than I allowed myself to sometimes. But I wish I knew what I know now when I was younger, like embracing the challenges more and trying to learn from them at a younger age. And maybe I extended that to be something. It wasn't until maybe late 29 that I stopped playing hockey but by that time, I felt like I finally became a student of field hockey. Not a player, but a student. What I mean by that is really breaking the game down and trying to learn about it to become a better coach. But I think that even though I was older and passed my prime physically, it helped me become a stronger player. I use the term sometimes in some report cards that I write for certain individuals where I'd say, you know, so and so is no longer a student in class. He has evolved into a student of English, and it's just embracing it to a real degree that it becomes something important. Therefore, I wish I had sought sooner to become a student in life, not just a player.
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