From the bottom up, tanned Oxfords, two-pleat smoky dress pants, a light blue polo. I stared at myself in the mirror, straining over every crease and every loose dog hair, scrutinizing the Viking staring back at me.
It was 7:30pm August 18, 2015 and the night of the town council meeting. The councilors would be deciding whether to allow the Vikings an enlarged pro-style changing room, by approving or denying a motion to tear down the wall between two adjoining locker rooms.
First impressions were a big deal. Coach Fish knew, the Vikings knew. The team planned to attend the meeting uniform in our Norfolk crested blue polos.
A fellow Viking, Nick Holmes, picked me up in his brown Ford Escape along with Renan Sarrazin and Andres Roy. We joked about the locker room situation and laughed about our night watching tents in Dover.
To us, the changing room was almost a guarantee. The meeting was a formality. I had thought to myself during that car ride, I’m in it for the long-haul. I knew the boys on our team, I’ve seen the members of our community in Norfolk, this was a place I wanted to be a part of. Even eating at Wendy’s earlier that day, an older gentleman wished us luck on the decision.
As Coach Brian Fish would later reiterate to the town council, for the past summer, the Vikings had worked towards being a part of Norfolk. We had set up tents for the Friendship and Ice-cream Festivals, we took the Night-Watch security shifts at the Summer Festival. One of my buddies sitting in the car with me at the time, Renan had put in eight hours, 6:00pm to 2:00am, the past Saturday making sure nothing awry happened to vender’s tents at the Summer Fest. I, myself had only managed to go for six hours, 11:00pm to 5:00am. Numerous other Vikings gave up their Saturday nights and then recovering Sunday, all for the community.
The team walked into the library together and sat in the pews. Sitting down, I saw smiles from some of the Council members when our case was presented. It looked as though we would get the locker rooms we were promised. As the night continued, I continually wiped the sweat from the palm of my hands. I watched as the eyes of the team followed each speaker. I heard the team whispering excitement to one another when a council member showed favor towards the rooms and encouragement to each other when one did not. An hour later, a motion was made to vote.
At the time, locker rooms didn’t seem as important as workout regiments or ice-time, but I realize now that having stalls, being together as a team, it forms a culture that reflects the unity of Norfolk. We would represent the wonderful hockey town of Simcoe all across Ontario, and yet, on home ice, our team would be divided by a wall.
How could a hockey community such as Norfolk County allow our team to be pieced apart during games, practices, when all that needed was to simply tear down a non load-bearing wall. An action, that our team had promised to pay for. Any time a team needed to use the professionally styled changing room, the Vikings promised to allow it. We are a part of this community, and we wanted a changing room that reflected the unity of Norfolk. We wanted a room that younger players could use and admire. We hoped for understanding.
Regardless of the decision, we shall continue to strive to work and love this community that has come to be known as our home, away from home.
On August 18, 2015, the motion to create such a space was denied. On the returning car ride, there was only silence and anguish.
hockey976 