When you ask an ice hockey player where he learned to play, the answer is rarely Nipomo, Calif.
The reason? There’s no place to play.
Many ice hockey hopefuls had to head to other cities like Bakersfield or Oxnard, both two hours away.
But senior Trevor Peterson — now a goaltender for the Oregon club ice hockey team — didn’t start on ice skates. He began on roller blades.
For the roller hockey boys, it’s all about trust.
They trust that their teammates will be in the right place on the rink. They trust that, once they pass the puck, their teammates can, and will, make the shot. They trust that if a play turns sour, their team will be right there behind them to back them up.
However, for seniors Dylan Dixon, Kyle Clements and Willy Morrison, it’s more than just trust. It’s chemistry. It’s knowing one of them will be there to receive a pass, even without checking. It’s knowing that, when one of them takes it to the net, someone will drop back to play D. It’s knowing that someone has their back, no matter what. It’s the kind of chemistry that takes years to build.
Sophomore Lois Kim smacked against the rink floor.
During her first game of her first year of roller hockey, she was flattened by the largest player on the opposing team. “Decked,” she called it.