The first time we received our jerseys in 2016.
 

Ok, full disclosure, this isn't my first #introduceyourself write up. I had initially introduced Ice Hockey & Her as a series that was dedicated to women and girls in Malaysia who love the sport.

Read about Ice Hockey & Her here

The series provide a voice to the female ice hockey players, who for over two decades have practiced, played, and win games without the glorious notion that many people in the nation have emphasized on sports such as badminton and football.

Like many other new sports, the ones that are not what the nation was born and bred to watch and play, the likes of floorball, figure skating, speed skating, inline hockey and many other cool sports that are already in Malaysia will most of the time face rejection from the sports ministry because it's mediocre to them or it's permainan budak-budak wanabe, which eventually dies off because no one really see the long-term benefits it has to the Malaysian economy.

This is what they tell us:

• No GOLD, no recognition.
• Even if we won GOLD, no guarantee of government funding.

And then we ask them, doesn't the flag that we bear on our chests mean anything? Doesn't bearing the name MALAYSIA on world stage mean anything? — the answer, to no surprise, is no not really.

And then most of us in the ice hockey community started realizing that we had to win more GOLD and fundraising is a constant effort on our part, including amplifying awareness of the sport to younger sports fans who could potentially turn into ice hockey athletes.

Getting Back To Introducing Myself

 
In the midst of my excitement with introducing this series to everyone...and in my obliviousness, I forgot to introduce yours truly —Me!

I'm a creative content writer, a travel blogger at yasminuurya.co, team leader and former alternate captain of the Malaysia National Women's Ice Hockey team, and a huge ice hockey fan (you may have seen this bio in my other posts).
 
I'm obviously new to Steemit. I was told by my veteran and experienced fellow Steemians @deborism and @orangila, that it would be best if I did an intro note of myself on here. So here I am.
 

Battle days in Taiwan | March 2016
 

Coogee to Bondi walk | January 2018
 

When I'm not working or writing about hockey, you'll see me touching some pavlova-looking-rock-stone in Sydney or hiking and exploring other places in the world.

Ice Hockey & Her Brain Child

 
While Ice Hockey & Her is the voice of the girls I grew up playing hockey with, it was also inspired by my love for this sport. It has been my teacher for 17 years. It shaped me to the person I am today and in retrospect, it's practically embeded in me. So if you ask me, I can't imagine myself not playing hockey, ever.

And then from time to time, I get friends and family asking me so why aren't you playing anymore? I wish I didn't have to answer that. It's hard to tell people that I got my bell rung one too many times. It's hard writing about it now too.

Why?

• For one, my concussion story is the ugly side of this sport (or any contact sport, really)
• If I told you about my concussion history, you might not find this sport so appealing anymore.

But because it's such a big part to why I decided to come up with this series, it's also my biggest responsibility to be open about it.

If I'm going to sit here encouraging young girls and women to play and preach about how cool and awesome this sport is, it's also their right to know about what they are getting themselves into and what they need to do if they decide to play ice hockey.

Here's an insight about concussions among women playing hockey.

 

I suffered four concussions in my lifetime of playing, and last year (March 2017) was my last. My brain scans showed multiple brain lesions in my frontal lobe, the back and in the white matter area.

Doctors say it's not the best areas in the brain to have a brain lesion, let alone multiple brain lesions, and I had multiple. If I don't stop and have my head get hit again, I may suffer from dementia and parkinsons before my time.

I've had some dark days. Days when my head felt like two bricks were squishing my head all day everyday. But those days are gone. — Just as long as I don't get hit in the head again.

It's been a year now since I played. I took time to recover until symptoms are completely gone, I rested more, went to rehab, ate right and found travelling as my source of therapy and so I did more of it.

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Parting Thoughts

 
I suppose in a way, Ice Hockey & Her is a reflection of how much I really really miss competing and being a part of a team that wants to win in every single game. Trust me, it can get very intoxicating when you have 19 other players just like you going all out on the ice to beat the other team.

Here's what this sport has thought me:
 

• It's a rough sport that doesn't really care if you're small or big. You can be the biggest guy with the longest stick or you can be the fastest-short guy on the ice. It really doesn't matter. If you're going to get hit, you're going to get hit. It's just the nature of the sport.

• It thought me resiliency. I learned to bounce back on the ice shift after shift even when I was running out of breath while playing.

• Determination that keeps going, rain or shine.

• Mental and physical strength

• Organization. Time management. It thought me how to balance school, exams, work and training.

• Generosity. Teammates look out for each other, on and off-ice.

• Optimism. I learned to look on the bright side. Always looking for solutions instead of excuses.

• Control the controllable. Only worry about what I can control. I learned to take responsibility and worry about myself first and foremost.

Come to think of it, these traits are a lot of what all of us need in order to be successful in LIFE. So much of these traits have spilled over unto my own personal life too. It's no wonder I played for so long.

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If you've enjoyed reading my intro up to this point, I take it that you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing about it. In Ice Hockey & Her I will be writing about unique inside stories and conversations around women's ice hockey in Malaysia.

Here is an example, Series #4: How Hard Is ice Hockey? #RARAWARRIOR Took a Crash Course At The MIHF Hockey Academy To Find Out
 

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About the author:
If you were wondering who wrote this, I did. Yasmin Kamal. I'm a creative content writer, a travel blogger at yasminuurya.co, team leader and former alternate captain of the Malaysia National Women's Ice Hockey team, and a huge ice hockey fan (ok, I think it's pretty darn obvious).