German-French theologian Albert Schweitzer said, “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” Adam Sherlip found how to serve. In this Q&A he talks about traveling the world for the love of hockey.
When and how did you get started in hockey?
I got started in hockey by playing in the street with friends when I was about six years old. We’d play from curb-to-curb, using a tennis ball as a puck and baseball bats as sticks. I started playing ice hockey when I was eleven, and was able to develop pretty well for someone starting so late.
I played some high level hockey until my back injury (fractures and herniated disc in the lumbar spine) when I was 16.
I began working in hockey as an intern with the New York Islanders before the 2006-07 season, and was hired full time in the middle of the season.
You worked in digital marketing and amateur hockey development for the New York Islanders, but made a dramatic career change to pursue your passion as The Hockey Volunteer and travel around the world teaching kids hockey. What prompted you to make this leap and are there any regrets? What advice would you give to someone that is too worried or intimidated to pursue their ideal career in this recession?
In just over two years with the organization, I held many positions, including the digital marketing and amateur hockey development, but also Project Hope, Islanders Children’s Foundation, and some in between stuff, like one-month projects.
I had been in eight different desks between three different buildings, had five different business cards printed up at some point in time, and at one point, didn’t have a desk phone or active number for a month when I moved buildings in my final position. When I think about it now, it reminds me of “Office Space,” and all I can do is laugh. At the time, I was not a happy camper, and I think the organization realized I wasn’t where I wanted to be professionally, and truly did me a favor by letting me go when they did. I was not alone, they got rid of probably 20–30 people in the course of the season, including my director (at the end of the season).
There are absolutely no regrets. I am a happier, more confident person today than I ever was, and I feel I am exponentially more effective than I was when I was in the organization. During my tenure there, I had a lot of ideas I couldn’t follow through on, not only because of my responsibilities, but because of the comfort of knowing I had a paycheck every week. I know there are people in the organization right now that feel this way. When I was set free, an enormous weight was lifted off my chest, and I was allowed to pursue these ideas and dreams.
I encourage anyone that feels trapped in their current situation to look inside themselves, believe in their passions and vision, and pursue it to no avail. My success in these tough economic conditions is directly correlated to how much time, energy, and effort I put in. Only I can control my success, and I encourage others to think that way, overcome the fear of the unknown, and listen to their gut instincts.
What is The Hockey Foundation? What does it take to be a hockey volunteer?
The Hockey Foundation is an organization that has been founded to bring hockey to those around the world with the least access to the sport. Our mission is to “share happiness & change lives, one puck at a time,” which is simpler than it may even seem. The game brings so many people, including myself, such a tremendous state of happiness when playing it. It has also given us incredible opportunities, and enriched our lives on personal and interpersonal levels.
The Hockey Foundation has been established to share these experiences with people of all ages all around the world. We want to improve communities, including the global community as a whole, and teach players that values such as honesty, accountability, hardwork, discipline, and mental/physical toughness are part of the human condition, and can be taught and learned through hockey.
While I am the founder and Executive Director of The Hockey Foundation, I am also using the personal brand “The Hockey Volunteer™” as it is a moniker I used for myself when this initiative began, and allows me to operate in slightly different fashion depending on the scenario. For example, as The Hockey Foundation grows, there will be more employees, more public involvement, more board members, more publicity, etc. This is already much bigger than the founder, as any organization is, and it will only get larger. [“The Hockey Volunteer”™] is a way for me to stand alone even as the organization follows its natural growth progression.
All that being said, if people are looking to volunteer their passion for hockey, they can reach out to teams, clubs, associations all around the world, and see where it takes them. If they can’t decide on the details of how to volunteer, they can always contact us on our website and we can work with them to get them involved in the hockey community, no matter how big or small.
You spent January 12–March 22, 2009, in Ladakh, India, with the Indian Ice Hockey team as the head coach and business development consultant (pictures). What was that experience like? Why did you choose Ladakh as the first place to teach hockey? How did you fund the trip?
I went to Ladakh after receiving a stray e-mail from my friend and former colleague Angela Ruggiero (three-time Olympic medalist with Team USA hockey). In her e-mail, Angela mentioned a school in Ladakh, SECMOL (Students’ Education and Cultural Movement of Ladakh). It piqued my curiosity, and I did some research on the school, saw they were looking for a volunteer hockey coach, had a surprisingly quick and easy (nothing is quick and easy in Ladakh, especially in the winter) e-mail exchange regarding what I would need to get there (including money), and set out fundraising. People from around North America, and in particular on Long Island and New York City, donated out of their pockets to help cover the expenses.
I started with the intention of only teaching SECMOL, but it quickly ballooned into working with the Ice Hockey Association of India, training and coaching the national team that competed in the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia held in Abu Dhabi, UAE this past March, as well as representing the association at the IIHF World Congress in Bern, Switzerland, and providing as much insight and advice to help their association grow and stabilize over the coming years. I was going to attend a coaching development clinic on their behalf in Finland, but funds ran out at the last minute, and we missed the chance.
What was it like running hockey camps in China with three-time Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero for Project Hope?
Running the hockey clinics in China with Angela was a ton of fun. We hit it off the moment we met, and it was because of Angela that I got to go to China. Without her support and friendship, I don’t believe I could’ve achieved any of this.
We had a very interesting time on the ice, trying to work through translators, on tiny sheets of poor quality ice in the middle of a school yard in freezing conditions. The boards were paper thin, there was no glass/netting around the rink, the goals had no nets, and the ice was beat up from tough conditions.
We held our clinics at all of the schools affiliated with Project Hope at the time, and went through a handful of drills and instruction that would ingrain some fundamentals into their practices for when we left. Basic stuff like posture, skating form, shooting, puck-handling, etc. I had the great fortune of seeing many of these players the following year, and they had definitely been practicing. The most obvious improvement was the puck-handling. The better players had mastered the toe-drag!
Angela and I still reminisce about our experience together in Heilongjiang Province, China (although she’s been there five times!).
Had you traveled outside the U.S. before Project Hope and The Hockey Foundation? Were these travels related to travel? If so, how different is hockey viewed in the countries? Did the experience open your mind to different cultures? What other countries have you visited or would like to visit?
I’ve been very fortunate to have traveled quite a bit. I had been to the U.K., Scandinavia, Caribbean and all over North America prior to my trip to China (‘07). Before India, I went to Israel, and then once I got to India, I also had the chance to also go to the United Arab Emirates, and see much of Western Europe.
Not counting Canada (which I have been to for a variety of reasons), China, India, UAE, and Switzerland have all been because of hockey.
I am a firm believer that the more we travel, the more we learn. We learn a lot about other cultures and our species, but we also learn a lot about ourselves. It has become increasingly clear to me that life is much less complex than our minds perceive, and that human beings are more alike than we would like to believe.
In my opinion, hockey is a great tool to use to communicate how much we all have in common, how beautiful and valuable life on earth really is, and form a strong bond that allows us to respect ourselves, each other, and the planet we use and abuse so heavily.
Hockey is definitely a foreign sport when you speak of the entire nations of China or India, but there are pockets that love the game, and have played for quite some time. Many don’t play in the way that we have come to regard as correct, but they play with passion nonetheless. I am trying to help bridge the gap between the passion and the “correct” way to play.
What life lessons do you share and have learned on your trips abroad?
It has become increasingly clear to me that life is much less complex than our minds perceive, and that human beings are more alike than we would like to believe. Traveling to countries like China and India, places with such distinct cultures, allows you to see different avenues that humans take to achieve the same goals, like happiness, success, families, etc.
India, in particular, is unique to me. It’s the most religious country in the world, will soon be the largest (in 20-30 years), it’s the worlds biggest democracy, it has so much diversity of languages and cultures, yet it is endlessly divided, being riddled with corruption, massive poverty, class inequities, stark educational and social disparities and pollution galore, all slammed into that subcontinent. The rest of the western world feels sterile in comparison, yet India seems to thrive. It is controlled chaos at it’s best. Watch a dog or monkey in the street in Delhi, and it all seems to make sense at once. It seems bizarre at first glance, but become beautiful when you pay attention.
What advice do you have for youth worldwide aspiring to play hockey?
I think the first thing is having the passion to play. With that passion, so much is possible. I saw players in both China and India using non-traditional items for equipment. Pillows as goalie pads, branches as hockey sticks, rocks as pucks. I’m not saying these are good alternatives, but they are simple ways to be able to play the game, even without the resources. From there, they can try to reach out to folks around the world that are trying to help players like themselves. We want to help, and to share the passion of the game. Passion can lead people to amazing places, including professional or high level amateur sports teams, even in non-traditional places.
How can individuals and businesses get involved with or help The Hockey Foundation? The recession has inevitably forced some donors and sponsors to rein in their monetary donations, albeit the motivations for giving have not changed. What non-monetary donations or in-kind contributions such as office supplies, website development, proposal writing, etc will The Hockey Foundation accept?
While money is greatly needed and appreciated, we understand that times are tough. On that point, we accept donations as little as $0.25. Anything can help.
In regards to other contributions, people and organizations can get involved in just about any way they envision. We would love non-monetary support that can provide assistance in operating the business, whether it be technological, advisory, infrastructure, or hockey equipment. Our philosophy is that collaboration is the best formula for sustain success, and we will try to work with anyone and any organization that is interested to help and has something of value to offer, even if it doesn’t seem like a “natural” fit.
There will be many opportunities in the future for people to get involved, as well as contests to bring along volunteers on future trips. A lot of exciting programs are in the works.
Your LinkedIn profile lists “philanthropreneurialism” as an interest. What does this term mean?
“Philanthropreneurialism” is a word I got from Richard Branson of Virgin Group. I don’t know if he coined it or not. It’s a combination of philanthropy and entrepreneurialism. Those words are both very important to me. As someone who comes up with many ideas, I tend to think of many that involve starting new businesses/ventures, and have a strong belief that we should be doing good for each other as well as the planet we live on. The combination of those aspects transformed into the philosophy of “philanthropreneurialism”: starting businesses that behave in a socially responsible manner.
If a genie granted you three wishes, what would you wish for?
Hmmm....this is tough. (1) to be financially secure for the rest of my life; (2) have one or two beautiful, intelligent kid(s), and (3) leave a significant positive impact (or legacy) on this world when I die.
You were recently the guest of honor at a #NHLTweetup in Washington, DC. What was it like meeting other hockey fans? What is your impression of DC as a hockey town? How cute are the female hockey fans in DC?
I really love DC! After NYC, it’s my favorite city in the U.S. I also love meeting hockey fans. It’s always interesting meeting new people, hearing new stories, and discussing our mutual passion in hockey.
I think DC is becoming a great breeding ground for hockey. When you have a superstar in your city, it sparks interest in the game like never before, and DC has the best player in the game (in my opinion). It’s also a city looking for a winning team, and right now, the Capitals are definitely the frontrunners, so more people are jumping on the bandwagon, and that’s OK. When times are tough, fans need to be tight on which teams they will financially support. With a couple of championships and some growth in the youth hockey, the DC area could easily become a hotbed of hockey in the United States.
The female hockey fans in DC are very cute, and I look forward to meeting many more of them!
What is up with your fascination with mango sticky rice?
Mango and sticky (coconut) rice is perfection. It is so simple, and comparatively healthy as a dessert (as compared to cheesecake or crème brûlée), and yet so satisfyingly delicious. The mangos need to be ripe, but not overly so, and the rice—there should be a LOT of rice—cooked in coconut milk and sugar. Top it with some sesame seeds, and voila! It’s got a sweet and savory taste, perfect texture, and provides a nice mix of vitamin C and electrolytes. Did I mention it’s delicious!?
Better captain: Jean-Luc Picard or Sidney Crosby?
Sidney Crosby is the youngest captain to win the Stanley Cup, which is impressive. On the other hand, Captain Picard defeated the Borg...many times. Sid sucker-punched some guys while being a “leader,” while Picard withstood torture and never lost his moral high ground. He won a Starfleet Academy marathon as a Freshman (only one to do so), was stabbed in the heart as an Ensign and laughed when it happened, and took command of a ship as Lieutenant when his Captain died. Hands down, Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Sorry hockey fans, this dude would be an insane hockey captain if he played.
Note: Please visit Adam’s blog for more about his work in India and to donate, and follow him on Twitter (@hockeyidealist). In support of Adam’s efforts, Love the Game, Don’t Like Puck Bunnies has donated $100. Photos courtesy of The Hockey Volunteer
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