Hockey players leaving home at a young age are faced with a lot to navigate.
In junior hockey, along with university and college hockey, players commonly leave home if needed between the ages of 16 and 20-years-old.
Nolan Ling, a forward with the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks, left Oshawa at 16-years-old to play for the Cobourg Cougars.
A piece of advice for players planning to leave home at a young age coming from someone with experience would be,
“I think you just have to embrace the process, and it can be really awesome if you just get out of your comfort zone a little bit,” he said.
Ling is not alone. Many players move away from home at a young age. Between players leaving for prep schools, Junior A and B leagues, the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Western Hockey League (WHL), and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).
The option for young athletes to leave home is extensive.
They say what helped them navigate the journey of moving away, was getting uncomfortable.
“We need to embrace the change and put ourselves in the uncomfortable positions because that’s literally the only way your game grows,” says Mackenna Kalicki.
“Get uncomfortable do the things you don’t necessarily want to do and see where that can take you and the crazy things you find out about yourself as a person.”
Kalicki, originally from Wellesley, Ont., grew up in a male dominated environment going to Victus Academy a private school in Kitchener, Ont., where she grew her hockey skills and graduated as the only female in her cohort.
She left home at 18-years-old and she is now a third year forward for the women’s Ridgebacks hockey team.
Finding balance when playing a sport can be a challenging task, especially when they have the additional challenge of being out of their traditional environment.
Kalicki says focusing on one task at a time helps.
“Instead of trying to eat a whole cake right in front of you, you’re just going to go piece by piece,” she said.
Another factor players potentially face when moving away from home is leaving their families behind.
Many studies have shown that the brain of an emerging adult is not fully developed and can still be influenced by experiences and environments.
While athletes are away from their families to play a sport, some lean on teammates for support.
“Coming here for a sport you’re surrounded and like your support system is your team. Your highs are highs with them, and your lows are lows with them and your connection is built by going through that together,” she said.
Kalicki said this was the case for the Ridgeback women’s hockey team this year.
“My coach built a team of just all our best friends,” she said.
Not only having the support of a team but also having the emotional support given from parents can help to increase mental health in adolescence.
Kalicki applied this in her own life by taking the teachings of her own family to develop her own attachments.
“Learning how to pull what I appreciate so much out of that family atmosphere here and kind of feeling that within my friends and like what helped me and what can fuel me in that department,” she said.
“I’m a huge family person, so I’m like what am I going to do now. It’s like no, I can find other things that can fulfil that.”
Ling was able to make an abundance of connections when leaving home for hockey, each one being different, which helped him to get out of his comfort zone.
“Anywhere you go, you have the team so kind of always use the team to like get comfortable in the area and it really helps a lot,” said Ling.