Ball hockey in Cancun?

Writing life: 71

I know what you’re thinking. What does ball hockey in Mexico have to do with a Substack channel supposedly about the writing life? Well, I guess it’s the same tenuous link I made in a post last March when I played ball hockey in Belize.

You see, in my ninth novel, A New Season, a men’s ball hockey league in Toronto provides the backdrop for a modest examination of male friendship—one of several themes explored in the story. So as part of my research for that novel, I spent the last 21 years and counting playing in just such a league, the Withrow Park Ball Hockey League, here in Toronto. That’s just how far I’ll go I’ll go to get the story right!

The team my twin brother Tim and I co-captained a few years ago. Yes, that trophy means we won the championship that year.

Anyway, as part of my continuing “research” just in case I decide to write a sequel someday, I recently joined more than thirty of my ball hockey brothers, including my real twin brother, Tim, for a ball hockey tournament in Cacun, Mexico.

As a member in good standing of the “write what you know” school of writing, I tend to plumb the depths of my own interests and experiences in my novels, not in a autobiographical sense—I’m not in my novels—but just so it’s easier for me to write authentically. So given how long I’ve been playing organized ball hockey, it was perhaps inevitable that it would one day wind up in one of my novels. Well, it happened last year in A New Season,

A less-than-flattering shot as I cover a player from Belize in Cancun.

Cancun

Anyway, back to Cancun. For twenty years now, one intrepid player in our league, Roger Dey, has been organizing annual trips to play ball hockey in some foreign locales, to spread the ball hockey gospel and support local youth teams. We call our travelling team, the Tropical Knights. Here’s a look at where we’ve gone over the last two decades, stencilled on the back of this year’s jersey.

I’ve been lucky enough to join five of those junkets over the years: Nassau, Cayman Islands, Las Vegas, Belize, and now, Cancun.

We don’t usually travel with such a large contingent of players, but this trip was particularly popular because it marked the 20th anniversary of the very first “road trip.” So more than 30 players signed up, my twin brother and I among them. As you might expect, we had a blast.

Roger booked us into a really nice all-inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen.

No complaints about our accommodations on the road!

We had quite a bit of rain but thankfully it held off for our games. We divided our Canadian complement into three teams to play against each other and the other two teams, one from Belize and one local team from Playa del Carmen composed mostly of Canadian expats. It was a round robin tournament format so each team played every other team once. And did I mention that nearly all of our Canadian players are over the hill? Most are over 50 and many—including me—are over 60. Many of the players we faced—including the entire Playa del Carmen team—were much younger, some half our age. But I figure what we lacked aerobically, we made up for in hockey IQ. We’ve all been playing the game for a very, very long time.

We were welcomed very warmly by our Mexican hosts and when we arrived at our first game, were greeted by a bona fide Mariachi band.

All the teams then gathered on the playing surface as our national anthems were played. Officials from the local tourism authority and some other dignitaries spoke to welcome us officially to the tournament. They really made us feel at home.

I won’t dwell on the games except to say that playing in stifling heat and heavy humidity left us all drained and soaked to the skin. And playing four games each, over two days in these conditions was taxing to say the least and required considerable recovery time at the beach after (and before). But I’m happy to report that one of our Tropical Knights teams won the tournament. As I recall, my team came in third, despite my play. But the trip really wasn’t about where we all finished in the tourney.

(L) Huddling before our first game. (R) Our crowded makeshift bench.

Day 2 games at a different, smaller location.

When the games were over, our three teams happily donated our sticks and other equipment to the local youth ball hockey program in Playa del Carmen. It was a memorable adventure and not just for the exotic ball hockey. Our delegation has played together for so many, many years and have become very good friends. That’s partly what I was trying to explore in A New Season. So just hanging out at the pool or on the beach and sharing meals with these guys was just as much fun as the ball hockey.

The official delegation from the Withrow Park Ball Hockey League, otherwise known as the Tropical Knights, with the jungle just behind us.

A shot I took at our final dinner before flying home the next morning. Yes, we wore our team golf shirts for our last supper, as it were.

---

Wrapping up…

Even writers need to take breaks now and then. This Mexican adventure was just the tonic I needed to get me through the editing process on my tenth novel, which commenced in earnest as soon as I returned. It was a fantastic trip with a great group of friends.

---

See you in two weeks. Here’s hoping you’ll subscribe—it’s free and easy—so you won’t miss future posts. Many thanks.