It didn’t feel real as the final buzzer went off. I looked up at the scoreboard. Groton: 1, Frederick Gunn: 3. It was over. We had lost. Words can’t even begin to describe the emotions going through my head at that moment.
It didn’t feel real as the final buzzer went off. I looked up at the scoreboard. Groton: 1, Frederick Gunn: 3. It was over. We had lost. Words can’t even begin to describe the emotions going through my head at that moment. Four years of going down to the same locker room for six days a week during the winter. Four years of wearing suits every Wednesday and Saturday and driving my roommates crazy with pregame naps. Four years of offseason work and split season hockey all for a winter of Groton hockey. All of it was over.
My senior season was over, and as I looked down at my jersey, it finally hit me that that was the last time I would ever wear a Groton jersey in my life. Unbidden, the tears began to flow from my eyes. I looked around at the twenty kids I had come to know as brothers over the course of four years, and my eyes settled on my fellow seniors. Crons, CJ, Fitzy, Cav, Wouk, NJ, Eram, and Forrest. Right then, all I could do was cry. But now, as I think about it, I can only be grateful for sharing four amazing years with this group of kids.
There’s just something about Groton hockey that’s special. We’re never the most talented team, though we have some really good players, and we’re also never the biggest or oldest team. But we live, practice, eat, and play like a family, and it shows. We’re always the toughest team on the ice, and every single one of us would do anything and everything for everyone else. And it was this do-or-die mentality that led this Groton team to one of our best seasons ever.
I wrote in an earlier post that for our senior season, we set the goal to have the “best Groton season ever.” We won the St. Paul’s jamboree (for the 1st time), made it to the finals of our Christmas tournament (for the 2nd time in Groton history), and beat our rivals, St. Mark’s, for the first time in five years. But most importantly, this season was the most fun I’ve ever had playing hockey for Groton. And it was all because of my teammates, coaches, and parents.
As my last message to 2023-2024 Groton BVH, I can only say thank you. Thank you, teammates. There’s not another group of kids I’d rather go to war with. Each of you are such genuinely amazing people and I’d do anything for all of you. Thank you, coaches. Thank you for the countless hours you put in thinking about strategies and lineups and special teams, for the energy you brought every practice and game, and for always having all of our backs. Thank you, parents, for bringing snacks, chocolate milks, and gatorades for all of us. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for coming to every single game, for putting up with my irrational and unending superstitions, and for always being there for me. And thank you, Groton Hockey, for all of the memories, for the brotherhood and friendships formed, and for four of the best years of my life.