lbauler posted on February 18, 2011 07:45
A deafening roar echoes across the ice making everyone turn and stare.
An enthusiastic hockey mother is unaware of the eyes on her as she celebrates her son’s success in scoring a goal.
“I get very excited when one of my sons (senior Nick Wooley and sophomore Alex Wooley) plays well,” mom Tracy Smith said. “I’m definitely a cheerer. I have a very loud voice. I’m like a one-woman cheer section.”
Mothers of players in difficult positions experience not only excitement but also anxiety in the face of a game.
“Watching Alex (goalie) is pretty nerve wracking,” Smith said. “There’s only one goalie. There is a lot of pressure on them. They can either make or break the game depending on whether they make enough saves.”
Smith, like other moms, shares frustration over losses.
“You want to cry when a close shot makes it into the goal,” Smith said. “It’s like, ‘Why didn’t you stop it?! Why did you let it go in?!’”
While some moms feel the pressure of competition, others just hope the players avoid injuries.
“The thing I’m thinking about before a meet starts is safety-- that no one gets hurt,” senior gymnast Teresa Selhorst’s mother, Barb Selhorst, said. “Then, of course, I hope that everyone on the team hits their routine.”
For mothers on the sidelines, injuries are the greatest worry and cause of stress during a sporting contest.
“Injuries are really scary,” Barb Selhorst said. “They can be very serious and take an athlete out for a whole season. They are the thing I dread the most.”
Moms who are watching an event may get more anxious than most spectators, but they also really enjoy the sport.
“I really like everything about hockey,” Smith said. “It is fast paced, exciting and there’s never a lull."
Just as the mothers enjoy watching the game, the players appreciate their attendance.
"Both my parents go (to my games and matches)," football player and wrestler senior Ross Emrick said. "They both give me a lot of support. It kind of helps me get my head in the next match."
Although parents provide a sense of comfort, their cheering can make players uncomfortable.
"My mom embarrasses me a little bit sometimes," Emrick said. "She has this whooping cheer and all the seniors on the football team and wrestling team know it is her."
The booming cheers are a sign of encouragement and approval.
"When Ross does well I scream my head off," Emrick's mother, Janie said. "I am very vocal and scream loudly. I do that anytime someone does well.
"I always want Ross and his friends to know that I am in the stands and where I am located.“
However not all the yelling done by parents is appropriate or positive.
“I’ve been at games before where parents go too far,” Smith said. “There was a game at Findlay this season where one of the kids on the other team got checked and was hurt.
“His mom went down onto the ice to see if he was ok. She was yelling at the players and across the ice at the other parents. I understand you get upset when your kid gets hurt but you have to control yourself.”
Smith, like other spectators, is made uncomfortable by parents who get overly emotional.
“I feel embarrassed because I’m not like that,” Smith said. “I am humiliated that I’m even from Findlay when parents act obnoxious. When a referee makes a call, they’ll yell, ‘What game are you watching? Are you blind?’
“If I am sitting with a group of people who act like that, I move down to be by myself. Parents should set a higher standard for players and not act like wild animals when a referee makes a bad call.”
But players accept their parents’ outbursts as part of the game.
“In hockey there are things that can be yelled and are ok to a point, but then other times people cross the line,” senior varsity hockey player Alex Fenimore said. “Things can get out of hand, but to a certain extent that kind of yelling is to be expected in hockey.
“However, the line is crossed when parents start yelling at other parents or threaten other kids on the other team.”