Hannah Scholz | Conquering anxiety through hockey | #WHLWarrior

The picture above is me with my military intersection team two years after I learned how to play hockey.

I came to CFB Greenwood because of my husband’s military career. I grew up on figure skates and every male in my family loved playing hockey.

I stumbled upon a new program run by this awesome person, Mel Foster, a hockey player who was tired of not being able to play hockey with her friends. She started the Greenwood Lady Bombers. She (and now others with different skill sets) teaches hockey from the ground up. It’s 18+ women’s recreational hockey.

I put on the gear, laced up the skates and learned some hockey.

This wasn’t just a cool opportunity for me… hockey saved my life.

Moving to Greenwood in the summer of 2017, I had just had my third child and discovered that I had a generalized anxiety disorder that was masking as a health anxiety disorder. Every day I thought I would die.

As I got better, my husband got worse. Past trauma came up for him and I almost lost him.

I would show up to Lady Bombers practice with pins and needles in my body, barely breathing, but when I’d leave… I was calm.

For an hour and a half every Saturday I got a chance to forget about how terrible life was and be a side of me I didn’t know.

I became addicted to hockey!

My husband and I bond over hockey. He is a hockey player too and we both love to watch the Ottawa Senators play.

Hockey gave me so much more than the ability to play—it gave me confidence, determination and courage. I “embraced the suck” and overcame.

I healed myself, became confident and tried things I was never able to before. I’m currently applying to the reserves, I work at the arena I learned to play hockey at and now play on a coed B division team with my husband.

Thank you, Greenwood Lady Bombers and thank you hockey! You changed my life.

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