Page 83 of Untouchable Player

“How come you volunteered anyway?”

“I’m the captain, I have to set an example. And plus, I’m gonna have to get used to stuff like this if I’m going pro next year.”

So he’s building up good PR already. This is why he’s going all the way and I’m not. That and the fact he’s way more talented than I am.

“Why didyouvolunteer?”

I shrug, “I like teaching people stuff.” Nate comes to mind, sucking Nate off,nope.Think about something else, quick.

“I taught my sister how to play hockey, now she’s way better than me, but my dad won’t let her play.”

“Why not?”

I shrug. “It’s expensive and he already put me through hockey camps and all that shit.”

“Women’s hockey’s taking off, if she’s good, he should let her do it.”

Obviously Jones has never had to worry about his parents being able to afford hockey camp and equipment. I don’t bother trying to explain it to him.

When we get to the rink, Coach talks to a woman with a clipboard and I see all the kids lined up on the ice in their little hockey jerseys and their pads.

The outreach lady introduces herself as Laura and tells us what we’re going to be doing with the kids.

“They’re all very excited to have real life hockey players teaching them today,” she tells us.

I can’t wait to get out there and see their little faces.

I volunteer to go in goal so our star centre can give them some tips on scoring. They start off with big foam balls and plastic sticks before moving onto pucks.

I hope none of these kids are secret Auston Matthews’s because I’m not even wearing proper goalie gear. Maybe that’s why Jones was eager to let me volunteer. I know he’s scared of messing up his pretty face or getting injured. God help him when he goes to the NHL and gets beat on by two-hundred pound men, who are like ten years older than him. I hope they have good defence next year in San Jose.

A few of the kids get a decent one on me, but I mostly let them score a goal or two even if they’re terrible.

It’s their smiles that make it worth it. Seeing them just enjoy the game for what it’s supposed to be – a game.

We’re out there for about an hour, but it flies by. When parents start showing up to pick up the kids, my heart sinks. I could have stayed out there all day messing around on the ice with them.

When we get back to campus, Jones heads to the gym and Coach grabs me and asks to see me in his office.

What did I do wrong?

“Laura was impressed with you today.”

“The outreach lady?”

“Yeah,” Coach laughs, “her, she said if you’re looking for a job over the summer, there might be something for you there.”

“Seriously?”

“Would you be interested?”

I rub the back of my neck. It isn’t easy telling people what you want. Especially when it feels like some secret hope you’re not supposed to have.

“Yeah, actually, I’ve been thinking about what I wanna do when I graduate and, I think I wanna go into coaching or training or something like that.”

“Oh really?” He’s smiling, so that must be a good thing, right?

“I think that’s a great idea Jesse, if you’re serious about it, I’ll keep an ear to the ground and see if there are any opportunities for you after graduation, but you’ll probably want to look at getting a grad degree in sport’s training if you really want to coach at the collegiate level.”

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