Hockey Moms Hit the Ice
A report now, about hockey moms. Not the type you've heard mentioned in political speeches. CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reports these ladies really are as tough as any pit bull - and you can keep the lipstick.
44-year-old Terri Reid is like any other mom who balances the daily chores with the checklist of her family's favorite sport - hockey.
(Scroll down to watch a video of this report.)
You could say it's an obsession in her family - with one daughter playing hockey, another managing a hockey team, and a hockey coach for a husband. The grind of the hockey schedule was simply torture for Reid.
"There's nothing to do," she said. "There's only so many hot chocolates you can have at the rink, and it's cold. It was horrible."
Finally, Reid said, it had gone on long enough. "I need to try."
So four years ago, Reid joined a league of her own. Three times a week year round, she plays on one of three women's teams. This season, she plays center for the Danbury Battle Axes.
Michelle Miller Hits the Ice, Literally
"It's an escape," Terri said. "I don't think 'I have all this laundry, and I just had a horrible fight with my husband,' - you don't think of any of that because you're just thinking of surviving."
The Battle Axes are in good company. They're part of a growing trend of women and moms breaking the ice.
61-year-old Anne Brewer was a trailblazer in the sport. She played at Brown University in 1967. Back then, there were fewer than 20 women playing in the country.
"We were the first collegiate women's team in the U.S.," Brewer said. "We had to go to Canada for opponents."
A lot has changed since then. In just the last 20 years, USA Hockey estimates that female membership has grown tenfold, from 6,300 to more than 60,000.
"I can't imagine not ever doing this even into my 60s and 70s," Reid said.
Now that's putting retirement on ice.
