Pinehurst

Lo and behold the hockey league was a success. I do not remember exact numbers but after the initial short season, it blew up. I believe we had almost 200 players at one point. It was fantastic, and of course the Howlett boys owned it. It was only fitting that Devan scored the very first goal in the Sandhills Youth Inline Hockey League. The SYIHL was just what the doctor ordered. The boys were happy to be playing, I was happy to be coaching. We were having a blast. Jeff and I decided to form a travel team. It was comprised of the top players in the league. We were u10 team, which Devan made as a 7 year old. This meant both boys playing on the same team, life ws good. Early on we would scrimmage a team from Fayetteville, NC. They were close and they were good. I don't think we ever beat them but the boys had a blast. Things would get quite interesting in short order in the SYIHL, more on that later.

Pinehurst was treating us well on all fronts. Heather loved her job, I had found a decent job, and the boys had their sports. They were both excelling on the hockey rink (we had built a makeshift rink at the old tennis courts), kicking butt on the soccer fields, and hanging tough in the local little league. We were cruising, and it would only get better.