Expansion

Sometime in 2021, I was trying to sell Janet on living in a bus. A Motorhome. A Big RV. Something. My idea was - Sell the house in Lower Sackville, NS - and buy the land we wanted, and build - or more likely to my taste - renovate some old farmhouse to make a new home for our growing family. Rosie had come along in 2018, and there we were. Five of us in a home that was suddenly too small, after having been a wonderful spot to start our family.

She knew me well enough to not have any of it. We were at my parents for dinner, I made my pitch. Some nodded without further comment, she didn't. I tried that approach a couple more times, no dice. Smart woman.

The conversation for us was real though. Janet wanted to be closer to her mom, her brothers, and to her dear childhood friends. We needed a bigger house. We both wanted to be out of the bustle of a business district in a growing bedroom community. We were going to buy another home though, not get into building one or undertaking massive renovations before occupancy.

Hockey was difficult, but not impossible. COVID had made it hard, but we found fun ways of making it happen, even if intermittent lockdowns made it a bit of a shit show. We actually had a couple winters in there where lakes froze enough to get together for some puck. Backyard rinks took off, even if you couldn't get one on the go until Mid January near Halifax. We were able to do it at home in 2020 and again in 2022. Janet rightfully pointed out that it was a lot of work for little time on the ice comparatively, but it didn't stop me from flooding it after the kids were in bed, listening to podcasts while wondering if the beer I plunked into the snowbank would freeze.

There is something cathartic about trying to remember details of this time period, when so much was happening. I mean, there's still an awful lot happening, and we're all trying to take it in from the firehose. Still, reflecting and taking the time to get the details right is an effort I want to make. I'm a fan of posterity.

2021 dealt us another blow. Shit disturbing efforts on my part to have our family in a van down by the river building a house, or maybe a more refined version of that - were forgotten when Janet's mother died unexpectedly. We were devastated, and had to act. At the time we lived in a different county and couldn't even legally drive to the fucking funeral home, due to travel restrictions. Janet is the oldest of her siblings, as I am to mine. There's a lot that comes with that, and not all of it pleasant. I know this will resonate for many.

The process of grieving, as well as the work that had to be done to wrap up Joan's affairs - brought all of our other plans to a halt. Much of our sadness was due to the fact we didn't get that chance to be closer to her.

We made our way through that, and I made my way through managing two projects for my employer in Downtown Halifax. By early 2022, we made our play. We were going to finish up some projects on the home in Lower Sackville, and sell it. I knew there was too much on my plate at that point to keep managing work projects, so I gave up the supervisor role. Eventually I ended up taking some time off to make it all happen.

In July 2022, after a few more twists and turns in a crazy overheated housing market, we made it work - and bought our home outside Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. The drive and determination to make it happen took a lot out of us, and it would be fair to say the aftermath, trying to stay employed, sorting out childcare and staying afloat wasn't pretty for a couple years either. We gained a bit from selling and moving, but it was wiped out within the first year because of it all.

In that backdrop, the hockey kept on going. Halifax Pickup Hockey was humming along, as was the league - and then, realizing there wasn't a real counterpart to what we had in Halifax - no real open model pickup options in Bridgwater, and no rec leagues at all, just some good groups sorting into teams and renting to play each other - well, you know what happened.

South Shore Pickup Hockey, launched in September of 2023. It wasn't easy to get the ice. The LCLC (Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre) is a beautiful rink, with almost every hour of ice time accounted for. I started asking the booking coordinator about a possible spot in the Spring of that year, and I think it was August 1st before I finally got a green light.

This took off pretty quick, and established a great group of skaters, a real mix of all backgrounds and skills. A year later, the South Shore Hockey League was launched, modelled off the Metro Hockey League in Halifax. We had a template, and with some adjustment for the realities of the South Shore, it has been very successful.

Within two years, we had 2 nights a week of pickup per week year round, some of it taking place just a little farther down the shore, in Liverpool - at another beautiful rink. The league started as four teams, moved to six in it's second year, and conversations about additional expansion are simmering.

The experience of our expansion has been a game changer. Each area has entered teams in tournaments, and have combined forces for Hockey Helps The Homeless twice. Home-&-Home exhibitions with fundraising for local charities have all occurred during the relatively short time since we expanded our footprint, and more are planned for the holidays this year.

This was where it clicked. What we could really do with all of this. Creating more opportunities for more people, presents an emergent quality of it's own. Things we never thought about that seem to be all-too-obvious next steps, and we're taking them.

Next post - incorporation, the hard work to grow, and what's coming.

Here are some links you should check out:

Halifax Pickup Hockey , South Shore Pickup Hockey

Metro Hockey League, South Shore Hockey League

Causes dear to us:

Hockey Helps the Homeless: Our teams are here, and here. Find a name you know, and show them some love.

Souls Harbour - Doing great work in communities across Nova Scotia.

Nova Adult Hockey - Buy us a Coffee, we'll perk right up.

If you wish to support my content, you can contribute to my efforts here.

Thank you,

Jason Craig