It has been a very long 16 weeks for kids that participate in extracurricular activities and for their parents.

Sarah Crawford’s home is dealing with no hockey since November 2nd. The hockey mom and Piston’s billet is running a range of emotions, “we are all heartbroken. I am looking at it as a mom and a billet mom. My two boys are devastated, they love hockey, they love playing hockey. I think it’s more of the social aspects of it. Being there with like-minded kids and now they don’t have it. We were fortunate enough to put a rink in our backyard, but it’s not the same. It’s not the same as game, and practice, because you’re out there by yourself.’

Activities being shuttered has impacted Pierre Fontaine’s children in varying degrees. ‘My daughter is six and she rebounds really easily. My 10-year-old son has spent a lot of time playing video games, more than we would feel comfortable with. And it’s very hard to get him to do anything else. Our 14-year-old is withdrawing into himself a bit. And when we talk about teen suicide and stuff like that. It’s those kinds of things that trigger thoughts in parents' minds’

The halt in all activities has been difficult for kids of all ages. Fontaine says ‘we come from a life where everyone is so busy, we go from crazy schedule busy and then we just stop. And then we’re told that we’re not able to go out. The generation of kids that are in the 11 ½ to 19-20 years old will have a tough time rebounding back.’

Karla Coldwell’s son should be busy training and practicing for baseball right now, and the owner of Stoney Brook Dance Studio feels for kids missing out on doing what they love. ‘They’re pretty resilient but they definitely miss their friends, they miss getting together with them. That’s a big part of sports and dance, is the social aspect and they’re definitely missing that.

Coldwell says they’re trying to keep things as familiar as they can with their dance classes, but are seeing their students struggle. ‘We’re still running on zoom. With regular class times and regular teachers and everything else, so the kids can kind of see each other. This week we actually switched it up and are doing a spirit week because it’s affected a lot of the older kids especially with their mental health...they need their friends. So, we’re doing a spirit week this week instead. We have different classes than we usually have and we had a talent show the other night and different things to help lift the kid's spirits and help get them out of their funk.’

It’s been difficult for some of Coldwell’s dance students to participate in their zoom classes from home. 'Many kids don’t really have space at home and it’s hard for most of them. A couple of them are trying to dance in their bedrooms and have 5 feet of space.’

Crawford is seeing how this lingering shutdown of activity is affecting her boys. ‘They’re becoming more quiet and introverted and my kids are not quiet or introverted. But it’s changing them. My one son is an extremely social kid and he can't have that anymore and it has affected him. There’s not much you can do other than working out downstairs and hitting the ice and going for walks.’

Coldwell and the teaching team at Stoney Brook Dance is working at making sure their dance students are doing okay. ‘We’re telling them that if they’re having an off day and they just don’t feel like they can handle coming to the zoom class, that it’s okay to miss it. Usually, we’re pretty strict on attendance and stuff like that, but because of this whole situation, we’re trying to be more lenient with them and telling them if they do want to talk, we’re definitely here and will set up a time to zoom with them. There is not a lot that we can do at this point. We’re doing what we can.’

Helping her boys deal with the effects of lockdown has been difficult at times, Crawford says ‘I don’t think they understand the ramifications of the lockdown versus what they feel. I don’t think they can connect the two. As adults we have a hard time with that, how can we expect our young kids to?’

Crawford has an interesting perspective as a parent of hockey players and working in the healthcare field. She works at Bethesda Regional Hospital in their lab and says she thinks a return to play can be done safely. ‘We did it at the beginning of hockey season and it worked and it was safe I think we can do it again. We have to work together; we have to keep communication open and we have to be willing to adhere to the rules. And if we can all agree on that, it can happen.’

As a Piston's billet, Fontaine is gaining a different perspective on how the stoppage has impacted young adult athletes. ‘Our billet feels like this is like Groundhog Day. Every day is the same thing and there is nothing to look forward to. He’s feeling a little bit out of sorts as well. It’s difficult to piece it out, but the stoppage and making people have to stay at home has made it detrimental to mental health.’

Crawford, who is also a Piston's billet is thankful for their player’s presence in their house. ‘Our billet is from Moorhead MN, he came all the way here to play for us and he can’t. We have a gym set up in the basement so he works out every day, he goes to the ODR, he goes out on the back rink a lot with my boys and they work on shooting, different skills. So that’s been a real blessing for us having him here for our boys, and likely our boys for him too.’

There is a sense of both hope and cynicism in whether activities will return anytime soon. Fontaine says, “I’m hopeful that they will open their minds to the mental health of kids, but I am cynical because of the way Dr. Brent Roussin is alluding to the fact that we have to be cautious.’

Parents say they are willing to make extra sacrifices for their kid’s mental health and ability to participate in activities according to Fontaine, ‘as hockey parents we went out for the short period of time it was opened up, we wore our masks, we were okay with it...we were told we couldn’t go into the lobby to warm up between periods and we were okay with it. We went to our kids' games, only one parent was able to attend, we were okay with that. As long as we can get some sort of normalcy, back into our lives where we can do things.’

Parents are used to sacrificing for their kids and hockey parents are no different, giving up the ability to actually watch their kids play is something many parents would give up for their kids to play games. Crawford says, ‘if that’s a sacrifice we have to make to get them back on the ice? Absolutely. 100%’

Coldwell is holding out home for the next round of restrictions being lifted, ‘I would love to be able to re-open. We have done everything possible we can to make sure our kids are safe. They enter through one door, they exit through another, our studios are cleaned between each class, and cleaned thoroughly every night. Everyone is wearing masks. We’re doing everything we can. And we haven’t had any cases at our studio. They did a survey with the Manitoba studios and it was like .01% or something like that had covid cases. Dance is a safe place to be.’

Parents would love to see things open up for their kids and activities and Fontaine had this to say. ‘I would like to see a return to play. As a parent, I can’t go in and spectate but I want these kids to be back. And I’m not talking just sports, I’m talking about people who go to the Arts Council. I’m a sports family, but there are other families that have other interests, and those kids are not doing anything and that is a big change for them. It’s families that do activities together and this is affecting them negatively. The entire family from top to bottom from parents down to youngest kids.

With the government opening up restrictions for outdoor hockey, parents are patiently waiting to hear from their hockey associations about what the next step is. Fontaine suggests ‘We need to have a return to play. Return to activity for children. Most specifically for children and teenagers.’

Crawford would agree and joins her kids in saying ‘let us play’.