They are a bunch of moms who’ve never played ball hockey before but since the start of September they’ve been playing every Wednesday and Sunday in the Ball Hockey Niagara Women’s Recreational League, under the team name Mom's The Word.
Ash Di Marco, one of the team’s founders, says, “All of us are moms, and none of have ever played ball hockey before so we figure it’s recreational, it’s something to keep us active, it’s something to do just for us.”
Di Marco says she got the idea of joining a ball hockey team while attending one of her son's games.
“Myself and one of the other moms started talking and at the end of the season we decided to do kids versus parents for fun. It’s hard because we’re not twenty anymore, but it was fun so we were like, ‘What do you think about joining one of those (ball hockey) teams?’”
Di Marco decided to form a team herself and she launched a Facebook post looking for moms to join. It didn’t take long for a full team to form but then there was still the problem of getting the team’s expenses like shirts, equipment and registration fees, covered.
“Originally a lot of (women) were kind of hesitant. As a mom, I know, you either get mom guilt doing something for yourself or sometimes you just can’t afford it. I figured I would try and see if I could find some sponsors. I went to my local pharmacy, I asked my dentist, people that knew me and surprisingly they were willing to help so I managed to get our first season completely covered.”
After Di Marco got LiUNA Local 837, Pine Street Dental, and Luken Pools & Concrete to sponsor the team, she got the whole group together for a meet up one week before they were set to play their first game.
“A lot of us didn’t know each other. We all got together and met up and tried to do it. We have a couple of them that have an idea of what they’re doing. Either their kids play or they’ve played sports in the past so we kind of just winged it.”
Even though they haven’t won a single game since the start of the season, Di Marco says the whole experience has been invaluable.
“We have a lot to work on but we are getting better. The whole goal, and I made it clear from the beginning, is I want it to be fun, I want us to laugh, I want us to learn. We met new friends, our kids have met new friends. Especially during the pandemic, it’s actually been really nice.“
If you want to go and cheer on Mom's The Word you can head over the league’s website for more information.
