Hockey in Iraq

[Jim A 4]

Saw this in the Sunday NY Times, registration required

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/25/sports/h...y/25hockey.html

CAMP WARHORSE, Iraq - One night recently, just after dusk, a convoy of Humvees came to an abrupt halt as it was leaving this military base. A soldier in the passenger seat of the lead vehicle climbed out, camera in hand, and stared, agape, at the silhouettes of seven figures gliding in skates atop a large concrete slab.

"Hey guys, can you believe this?" he yelled to his fellow soldiers inside the Humvee, just before snapping a few photos and driving off. "Hockey in Iraq. Now I've seen everything."

There is basketball for soldiers in Iraq, college courses for soldiers in Iraq, even salsa dancing lessons for soldiers in Iraq. But roller hockey for soldiers in Iraq must be among the rarest recreational activities of all.

Here at Warhorse, though, near the city of Baquba, about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, hockey has become a nightly ritual.

Soldiers from Company B of the 203rd Forward Support Battalion, Third Infantry Division, gather at 7 p.m. to lace up their skates and play hockey on an area of concrete separated from the base's helipad by blast walls.

The soldiers' 16 sets of in-line skates and 13 hockey sticks were donated by sporting-goods stores in Wisconsin. The single goal the soldiers use was fashioned with tent poles they welded together and netting normally used as a sun barrier.

Some soldiers had skated before. Some had played roller hockey before. Others, like Staff Sgt. Glennville Fox from Palatka, Fla., had done neither. "I'm not very nimble, but this just helps me pass the time," he said after missing a shot on goal, losing his balance and falling to the ground face first, spread eagle.

On the other side of the goal, Specialist Eric Armstrong let out a belly laugh as he weaved around other players, an orange rubber ball on the tip of his stick. He shot and scored. Then the players promptly lost the ball in the darkness.

"While still in Kuwait, I joked that we'd be playing hockey here in a few months, but I was totally kidding," said Specialist Armstrong, 20, who is from Appleton, Wis., and has played hockey since he was 10. "Now it's weird to play this here, because Iraqis have probably never even seen hockey, or ice, for that matter.

"But after awhile, I couldn't watch another movie, couldn't play another video game," he said. "I needed hockey."

Specialist Armstrong and a few other players work security, escorting convoys down the perilous roads to and from Warhorse, an area rife with roadside bombs. Other times, Specialist Armstrong searches people entering the base, including injured Iraqis en route to the aid station.

"We search them even though they have cut-up legs and shot-off arms or flesh hanging off of them," he said. "People have been known to strap bombs to their legs even then, so we have to keep the base safe. Now you know why we use hockey to distract us from our day jobs."

Convoy security missions are just as stressful, but sometimes boring because there may be long waits at either end of the trips. Before his hockey equipment arrived, Specialist Armstrong said he often spent that down time dreaming about playing in the National Hockey League or trying to remember how it felt to dance across the ice with a hockey stick in his hand.

In other times of ennui, he found different ways to occupy his time. Once, he ran full speed at a giant roll of Bubble Wrap to see if he would bounce off. (He did.) He then had grand plans to leap from the top of his housing unit while bear-hugging that Bubble Wrap, but one of his noncommissioned officers put a stop to it.

Finally, after a few months in Iraq, he decided to ask his mother, Kris Armstrong, to buy 13 sets of inline skates, 13 hockey sticks and 2 sets of goalie equipment with the money he had saved while overseas. When she went to sporting-goods stores to buy them, Specialist Armstrong said, she ended up persuading the managers to donate more than $2,000 worth of equipment.

Kris Armstrong spent about $150 to send that gear to Iraq. The equipment arrived two weeks ago and was the best package from home that Specialist Armstrong could dream of, he said.

Since then, more and more soldiers have shown up to play. One night last week, more than a dozen soldiers in desert camouflage uniforms or gray T-shirts and black shorts sat in a row of dusty plastic chairs, most of them smoking cigarettes before the game began. They leaned their weapons - most have M-16 rifles, some with grenade launchers - against concrete barriers and slipped on their skates while a group of cafeteria workers from Africa played cricket in the background.

Before the game began, Specialist Armstrong quickly fixed the goal with duct tape. The night before, another soldier had trouble braking and skated through the metal frame. When Specialist Armstrong was finished, the group set out for nearly two hours of gliding and, in some cases, colliding.

"Hey, did you do this damage to me yesterday?" Sgt. Thomas Miller, 25, from Carmine, Ill., said to Specialist Armstrong, while pointing to a welt on his right shin.

"Better me than some Iraqi," Specialist Armstrong said, as he skated off smiling

[2-Keys 1]

thats awesome that the solders use hockey to take thier minds off everything terrible thats going on over there. lets just hope they can all make it back to play on real ice!

[Edge 0]

that is pretty cool. Something new and different for the guys who have been there for a while.

[Adam91 0]

You be suprised in how many places hockey exists. A great book about that is The Tropic of Hockey by Dave Bidini

[DarkStar50 679]

Thanks for posting that story. I read it Sunday online and am glad you shared it here.

Peter

[hip check 0]

Great story. Always good to hear about the guys over there entertaining themselves.

Maybe that's the best way for the NHL to get new fans, provide gear and jerseys for the soldiers that are overseas...?