UBC January 2025 - Away Game in Adelboden

Welcome back to January's UBC. Today, let me tell you about a recent development in my son Colin's athletic career. 

One night in early January, I was sitting in my car, as usual, waiting for him to finally emerge from the locker room after practice. He likes to take his sweet time taking a shower and throwing his wet and smelly gear into his hockey bag. 

It wasn't just any practice. Earlier that day he forwarded me a text message that said 

Ciao Colin wie hesches? Du wirsch am Sunntig bi eus spiele, am Donnstig hemmer Training, und es wär cool wenn Du zu eus is Taining cho chönntsch, würd das gah? Mir hend am 19.00 Iistraining. 

It's Swiss German and translates as

Hi Colin how are you? You will play with us on Sunday, on Thursday we have practice and it would be cool if you could come to this training, would that work? We have training at 7pm.

The message was from Sandro, the U20 head coach. Apparently at the previous weekend's game he got upset with some team members. "If y'all don't want to give your best, feel free to stay home next weekend, and I'll see to it that I can get a few underaged players."

And that's exactly what he did. Well, "a few" were two guys, Colin and another U17 teammate, who unfortunately was sick and ended up not joining.

Back to the arena parking lot that night. Colin got into the car, visibly exhausted but happy. "It was strenuous, but I more or less managed to keep up. On Sunday we have a tour bus for the trip, and there is still room, you are welcome to come along."

Due to the geographical location of the away game, I would actually have preferred to drive directly from home instead of taking the detour via the arena, but there was a ski race on that particular Sunday and I was fine with the bus driver having to deal with the increased traffic volume and the parking situation. 

And that's exactly what happened. It was the most scenic trip on an exceptionally gorgeous Sunday! So what was the location? Adelboden is a picturesque alpine village in Switzerland, known for its stunning mountain scenery, world-class ski slopes, and annual FIS Ski World Cup events. Nestled in the Bernese Oberland, it offers a charming blend of outdoor adventures and traditional Swiss hospitality year-round.

Who is this lady sitting on the wooden bench? Vogellisi is a beloved figure in Swiss folklore, famously tied to Adelboden. According to legend, she was a mysterious woman who lived in the mountains, known for her wisdom, kindness, and connection to nature, inspiring the popular local song "'s Bärneroberland isch schön"?

The old legend was recently turned into a musical and performed at various outdoor locations. So Vogellisi is truly a trending person in Switzerland ;-)

This song was going to be played eight times that afternoon - it's the opponent's goal song! And even though you hate when the other team scores, you can't help but sing along and do a little dance every time you hear it:

As usual the guys need to arrive at least 75 minutes prior to the game to have enough time for warm-up, briefing and changing into their equipment. This is usually hubby's and my time to explore the area and have a snack, and boy did we enjoy our little getaway!

I had been sick all week, and while I didn't feel 100% fit, I sure had enough of lying in bed. Blue sky and sunshine may have added to my recovery!

And what a day of joy it was for team Switzerland at the giant slalom classic on the Chuenisbärgli: Marco Odermatt and Loïc Meillard secured the first Swiss one-two victory in Adelboden since 2008.

Now, our hockey boys, or should I say, young men... The started off well and scored the first goal. It was 2 : 2 after the first period. Then something happened, and they lost their touch. 5 : 3 after the second period, and the third began even worse. Our players were frustrated and committed one foul after the other, which put the rest of the team in even greater difficulties, as they had to play permanently short-handed, sometimes even double short-handed. Ouch! Colin, who was actually there as a supplementary player, very quickly became a key player in the special teams, and he did a wonderful job. 

As motivating as it was for him to be allowed to play in this age category, I was a little worried about him. His teammates, and especially the opposing players, are 1 - 3 years older and therefore a lot bigger and heavier. Taking a body check like that from a giant is not without its problems!

Fortunately, he remained uninjured and even had the opportunity to score a goal (at 10:58 of this video). Wow, nobody had expected that! I was really happy for him and proud of him!

After the game, the coach scolded the players who had totally deviated from the game plan and taken their frustration out on their opponents. When he was done, he apparently said, “on a positive note, we have a youngster here who not only played a great match, but also scored his first goal, you did a great job Colin, here's your rookie puck!”

It's a nice tradition that you get to keep the puck with which you score your first goal in a team. The coach had even written it on it with stick tape. Very classy!

Since these game results are published on a platform, it didn't take long for fellow players and hockey parents to get wind of Colin's mission.

I got a couple of text messages, among them this one from a Hockey Dad who's usually quick to criticise:

Colin has done a great job! He's an asset to the team. I hope he stays. Otherwise it was a game to forget! We can really do much better. For me, he was the match-winner!

Wow. Now he must have had more intel than just the scoreboard. Turns out he had watched the game on Red+, a subscription-based streaming service from the comfort of his warm sofa.

The way things look at the moment, it's quite possible that Colin will get to play with “the big ones” from time to time. He has now been called up for Saturday with the U17s, and on Sunday there is another U20 away game in the Bern region for which he is scheduled. 

So my blog is called “Part-time working Hockey Mom” for a reason, and I have the opportunity to live up to my name over the next few weeks...