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Help me continue to play Hockey!

Hello.

My name is Erin, and I am 27-years-old. 

I have not always been a hockey fan. In fact, I’ve actually been a hokey fan for less than a year! But, I never do things by halves, so when I became a hockey fan, I became a hockey fan.

My journey to the sport actually started with reading romance novels.  Luckily, this was just a few weeks before the 2015-16 NHL preseason began, so I had time to learn more about the game. And by more, I mean everything, because I knew nothing. Hockey isn’t a big sport in Southern California, though it’s popularity is growing all the time thanks to having two good teams.

So I started watching, and I started ice skating. I hadn’t been in years, but I loved watching how easy the players made it look. It’s not easy. I have good balance, but skating is actually really, really hard. I bought a pair of skates and started going to my local rinks at least once a week. I watched many, many YouTube videos on edges and stopping and skating backwards. It felt amazing to be doing something physical for once, instead of just sitting around the house, especially since I was having a very difficult time in my life.

In early December of last year, I went on medical leave from work.  I was severly depressed.  I spent most of my time sleeping, I had multiple anxiety attacks, and there were several instances of self-harm.  On top of this, my dad had a soft tissue sarcoma cancer relapse. I started seeing a psychologist every week, and began taking medication to help control my condition.  This helped, and hockey helped me a lot too.

I broke my left wrist  on December 19th.  I was turning from skating forwards to backwards and fell.  I got up, got off the ice, and knew pretty much right away that it was broken.  My visit to the doctor the next day confirmed it.

I was back on the ice 5 days later.


In April, I went to an adult learn-to-play clinic at a local rink. It was 3 weeks long, and they gave us loaner equipment and beginning instruction. And I learned that hockey is a LOT harder than just being able to skate! I had so much fun that I knew this was something I wanted to keep doing.

So…I got my own gear (some new, some used, so expensive!!!) and signed up for the rink’s rookie league. My team the first 6 games, but on August 6th we finally won!!! It felt so amazing! And I even registered my first point: an assist on the game winning goal!!!  Since then, we've only won 1 more game, giving us a record of 2-9-0, which is pretty terrible, but I've had fun playing every single game.


Unfortunately, it's now time to sign up for the next season, and it costs quite a bit of money
(around $545).  I am now back to work part-time as of last week, but I do not have enough money to cover the cost of the new season. 

Playing hockey has been so good for my health, both physical and mental.  I am really afraid that if I can't continue to play, I may regress in my recovery.  

All funds will go directly to helping pay for the cost of signing up for the new rookie hockey season at Anaheim Ice in Anaheim, CA.  Please help me continue on my path to physical fitness and better mental health.  It really would mean the world to me. 





Organizer

Erin Yarborough
Organizer
Garden Grove, CA

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