Hockey Volunteer Warming Hearts Around The World

Adam Sherlip, formerly responsible for digital marketing and amateur hockey development for the New York Islanders, is now following his inner philanthropist. Adam endeavors to teach hockey to children in all parts of the globe and immerse himself in the culture of sport. Please follow Adam on his charitable adventure around the world at his blog, hockeyvolunteer.blogspot.com. This is Adam’s story.

So, you’re sitting at the arena watching your favorite team play terrible hockey.

The fans around you are shouting detailed and violent profanities at a roster of overpaid, under-performing athletes, some of which have questionable reputations.

The players are spending more time staring at the door in the penalty box than they are on the sheet of frozen, painted water.

When they’re on the ice, they’re beating the guys in the opposing color until they’re red with blood.

It’s hard to see why anyone would enjoy this sport.

One of those fans is a hockey dad with his kids wearing their youth hockey jersey, and you can only image how intense he is when his kid is playing hockey—forcing his child to play, arguing with the coach, believing he has greater (rather, no) coaching experience, making deals with youth clubs, and taking all of the fun out of the game.

This is the type of situation that drags the entire sport of hockey down, and it’s something myself and many others are passionately trying to change.

Two years ago, I was hired by the New York Islanders to handle a well-intended, decently covered initiative called Project Hope —a youth hockey development program in northeastern China—directed at the time by Team USA star Angela Ruggiero (three-time Olympic medalist, all-time games-played leader, top defensive player, great person).

Almost two years to the day, I assisted her in running the Project Hope Invitational in New York, hosting one of our teams from China to play against three teams from the New York area.

A few weeks later, Angela and I visited Heilongjiang Province to see the kids at the schools in which Project Hope installed outdoor rinks, and my life officially changed for the better.

Traveling to the opposite side of the world teaching kids hockey was one of the most memorable experiences in my life to date, and mostly because of the epiphany that hockey has a culture and a language unto itself that transcends borders and the differences we may have off the ice. Furthermore, in order to succeed at the sport, everyone involved has to conform to the culture of the game.

So what is the culture of hockey?

Simply put—teamwork, sportsmanship, accountability, physicality.

At its core, hockey is the most sportsmanlike game in the world. “Adam, what about the fighting and the checking?” you say? Checking allows players to knock another player off the puck to gain control, as well as intimidate your opponents with your physical prowess, a trait that is as ingrained in mammalian behavior as reproduction. Fighting, outside of the sheer enjoyment or disgust one may have, is a way to keep honor and accountability to a game that sometimes can get emotional.

If you are looking for a great cause that involves spreading hockey culture around the world, then please investigate Adam’s journey further at his hockey volunteer blog.