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