The Game for Everybody
BY SCOTT TAYLOR Photos by James Carey Lauder
SHELLEY COCKERILL was a hockey player. A good one, too. In fact, she was a longtime member of Team Manitoba and played at a number of national championships.
But one day, in her late 20s, she was introduced to a new game and while she still plays ice hockey at a recreational level, the 44-year-old national ball hockey team member has developed a passion for The Summer Game.
“ I have played and loved ice hockey from a very young age, but had no visibility to ball hockey until much later in life,” she explained.“ I was only exposed to the sport at about 29 years of age through some women who played on my ice hockey team.
“ I instantly fell in love with ball hockey because it was so similar to ice hockey, but also had some challenging differences. You play with a ball rather than a puck, but the main concepts are the same such as positional play, stick handling, passing, shooting and of course scoring.
“ Although I never really liked to run, playing ball hockey has made me enjoy running and testing my body in a different physical capacity. Playing ball hockey has improved my endurance, my stick handling and my hand eye coordination. It’ s great off ice conditioning that has helped keep me in shape through the summer months while still getting to compete in a fast
120 | GAME ON | PLAYOFF EDITION 2018