Family, Fun, & Fitness -- Not Just a Catch Phrase

Tom and Danny Sedlak At the Triangle SportsPlex, we are very proud indeed to be able to say that “Family, Fun, and Fitness” is more than just another catch phrase, especially in our recreational hockey leagues.

Here we find no less than four families represented in which fathers and their sons play together on a team. We ask rhetorically, now what better way is there for these dads to bond with their sons and enjoy all the benefits of a healthy lifestyle? Gordie Howe, move over…these dads may not be trailing behind your skate tracings into the NHL, but they are certainly following the wonderful example you’ve set by skating on a line with their sons.

Of those four families, we managed to catch up with Tom Sedlak and Richard Gurltiz, both very proud dads whose sons Danny and Ben skate with them on teams in the C League.

“I played a lot of ‘pond hockey’ when I was a kid,” says Tom Sedlak. “So, after watching Danny come up through the ranks in the youth program, I realized that I’d never played in a structured, organized game. I decided right then and there that I wasn’t going to miss out on this and immediately enrolled in the SportsPlex Adult Learn to Play in order to learn this game for real.”

Richard and Ben Gurlitz The story of Richard Gurlitz was similar, but with a different slant. Richard was originally from New York where hockey had always been part of his life. It was only natural for him to impart his passion for the game onto his son. And indeed he did.

Richard enrolled Ben, then five years old, in the SportsPlex Youth Learn to Play and from there, he progressed through the youth program. I also share in Richard’s pride since I was one of the instructors in Ben’s earliest skating days and like both Tom and Richard, I find myself hard pressed to keep up with the speed and dexterity of the younger half of these dynamic duos.

On behalf of the Triangle SportsPlex I would like to say thank you to all of the fathers and sons for allowing us to facilitate their passion for hockey in such a meaningful and rewarding way.

To meet more faces at the SportsPlex, visit the Faces in the Crowd archives...

Gordie Howe, move over… these dads may not be trailing behind your skate tracings into the NHL, but they are certainly following the wonderful example you’ve set by skating on a line with their sons.