Hockey In the Hood Camp: Why I love these images (Part 3)

Smells

The reason I entitled this image, "Smells," is because that is the very first thing that pops into my mind when I look at this image.

Here's what you see: 8 brand new DinoMights about to ride home in the DinoMights van (There are 8, one is tucked way back and you can't really see him in the picture). You see smiles. You see seatbelts (That's very important in the DinoMights van). And you see Hockey bags piled up in the back of the van.

You see the joy of kids that have just enjoyed a new sport for the first time. They are mostly Latino in this case and they have no idea that Latinos have not traditionally played this sport. They also have no idea that there are like 2 professional Latino Hockey players. They don't care. Bottom line: They are kids who have had fun playing.

You see kids about to laugh and enjoy the van. The van is actually part of the fun. We tell jokes, try tongue twisters, and tell funny stories. The kids don't seem to mind that it takes a little extra time to stop at every kid's house. In fact, they usually don't want to be the first one out. It's fun to be together whether it is on the ice, in the hot summer, or riding home in the van.

What you don't see is . . .

How stinky those hockey bags are!