We grew up very poor, and I hated being poor. I was the oldest of five kids, and I never got a pair of skates until I was nine. It was very difficult to get an education back then and play junior hockey.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When my parents were paying for my sport, it wasn't just me out on the ice. Pretty much every dollar my mom made teaching went into my skating.
I had spindly little ankles, and growing up in Canada, I couldn't skate. I was no good at any sports so was very much a pariah through those adolescent years.
That's a hard question, because I started skating when I was three, so I don't really remember life before it, and I don't know what it is like not to work hard at something.
Even in Canada, I never even played ice hockey. I never skated in my life; I always did rollerblade street hockey.
Skating was something I really wanted to do; my parents knew nothing about it. They said they'd support me as long as I was trying my hardest and enjoying it.
Some skaters, they live for skating, and they are home-schooled. I'm very lucky my parents let me go to school and have a normal life.
It was always so nice to step away from figure skating and school with hockey. To this day I'm still a huge fan.
I grew up in Wisconsin loving hockey. I mean, I started when I was three years old on skates.
I started skating when I was six years old.
Being surrounded by hockey, I got forced into it as a kid. I started skating when I was 4 and had a rink only 10 minutes from my home. In my town, we had one outdoor rink and one indoor rink, so you could skate all year long. I lived by a lake, too, so we did a lot of skating on the lake.