Sports

It has only been two weeks since I started playing hockey in Canada, but I see several diferences to other sports I have played and where I have played them, including hockey itself.

Regarding hockey I have only really played with one team, players changed but still only one team. The friendship was there between some of the people playing and when others came they either already new someone on the team, making the integration easier, or they "earned" their place on the team and the teamate's respect and friendship. As always there are some that either didn't earn the respect or friendship and end up leaving, but you cannot like everyone all the time, and since it was not a matter of skills they would always make the team, that was not the problem.

Now I am playing in Montreal at a rink that offers pick up hockey on weekdays for 5 CAN (Canadian dollars), so I go there twice a week. The difference here is that no one tries to make the next one his friend, we do not talk to each other, we do not shake hands, we do not even know each other's name. Maybe it's cultural, and since we are only there to "play around" and not actually going anywhere, we are not a team and not in a league, we do not feel the urge to "unite" or even socialize; maybe it's just the second week of the season and as time passes people will open up; maybe it's the groups within the group, some people come with friends, stay with their friends, play with their friends, and leave with their friends, leaving the people that come solo, well solo; and maybe, since we are in Quebec, and there are French and English speaking people on the ice, it's the "natural" barrier between them that separates us all, who knows. Or maybe, if I was playing with a team it would be different.

On the other hand, I have played rugby, also in only one team. The difference was that in rugby, at least from my perspective, you go from friendship to teammate. Let me explain, you walk by the field, you see people playing rugby, you are interested in joining, you come closer to the field, someone from the team sees you, and either him or the person that is in charge of "talking to outsiders" (if you play rugby, you know what I mean, if you don't, find a rugby player and ask) comes to meet you and invite you to join. This is what we did in Aztecas RFC and it's what I experienced meeting a former teammate at his rugby practice with RCM here in Montreal, as soon as I put my bike down and came closer to the field, one guy asks me if I want to play rugby, I didn't join the team, but I am now playing hockey cosom (floor hockey) with them during the off-season, and making some friends, even though I'm not even in the team.

I have been playing both games for quite a while, and even though I'm a hockey freak to the bone and love it, I find the rugby all around feeling way more my thing. I remember when my good friend "Don Pinche Joe" (my hockey coach at the time) started the rugby team in Puebla he would say the same thing to me, and I just did not see it. Training rugby two or three times a week with very or almost no games, made hockey more attractive. We didn't have many games at hockey either, but at least enough people to play against each other once or twice a week. But after things started flowing, and the "third half" (if you don't understand, ask a rugby player) rugby parties started, I changed my mind about rugby, even tried bringing that spirit to my hockey team, but I guess there are only a few of us who can relate to both groups, since they didn't follow with the idea of parties quite like the rugby guys.

I guess the difference lies in the way the game is played, I have seen hockey games won by one or two very talented players, while the other's are just there, sometimes even in the way of the talented players. A rugby victory is ALWAYS a team victory, you need to be there to support your teammates, you have to run back, you have to pass, you have to scrum, you have to feel supported, you can't win a game with just a couple of talented players, sometimes a united group of rugby players is better than a talented team of rugby players that are not united. So perhaps that is why they are more friendly, since they want to know if you are going to support them in and off the field, winning your friendship first to be sure of the support on the field. Truth be told, one of the main reasons I stuck to hockey is because I'm better at it than rugby and since now I'm in hockey country, getting better is very good reason to stick to it (no pun intended).