Documenting Maryann Morley — Extraordinary Hockey Mom

This is an article that Jack Donovan wrote for the paper about juvenile hockey. It was written to Gerry Townsend Sports Chatter section.- Glenda Mahoney

Thanks Glenda Mahoney for sending this to me, but you know me, and I need a seeing eye dog now– but I love celebrating our local folks and honouring them. I can’t read the article due to the fine print, but I assume this article by Gerry Townend says Maryann Morley did a great job in Carleton Place for Carleton Place Juvenile Hockey. I’ve got my magnifying glass out now (god I love you Glenda, you know that) and I can see the big print and it says: “Maryann is an extraordinary hockey mom”.

I bet Maryanne knows how to scrape a windshield with a hockey stick and wouldn’t trade an evening of sitting in a freezing hockey rink for a trip to the Barbados. Jack Denovan wrote about her with love, and I assume her car trunk was always full of blankets, extra sticks, snacks and random pucks in August. It takes dedication to represent hockey and I bet you based your purchase of a vehicle on the number of hockey bags it could hold. We did.

I apologise Maryann– I can read the larger print saying you were a driving force for six years with Carleton Place Juvenile Hockey and this is all Glenda’s fault. I know it also says that you are a very determined woman and what you did was amazing. You probably lived in organized chaos during your term and wouldn’t have traded a minute of it. I know you were tough, but your love and devotion showed as well. In hockey, there is always a place for anyone who wants to play, and there is always a level you can play and receive life learning lessons like you showed them Maryann. I bet from mid-September onward, your initial response to any invitation was: ‘Maybe, I’ll have to check the hockey schedule”.

Being a hockey mom to all those kids was probably a lot more work than you bargained for. But this experience was so valuable for your son Kyle and all the other Carleton Place kids that it was worth it. To this day you know your rinks — you know which rinks are cold and which are warm. You still lay your head down on your pillow at night and wonder when in the hell was the moment you became the mom who yells at a ref over a bad call? Maryann, remember waking up to an alarm clock at 4 a.m. on a Saturday with pure excitement at the thought of a 6 a.m. game that was one hour away. Or was that two?

All kidding aside, I would like to say thank you for all you did Maryann for the juvenile hockey club in Carleton Place. I am sorry I could not print this out word for word, but you just point the finger at Glenda LOLOL. But, that Glenda has such a big heart she sent it to me knowing I would want to document what you did and she was right. Thank you Maryann you are now documented for all the great work you did for an eternity. Carleton Place thanks you!

Linda