Hello accomplished Hockey Parents,
As I scramble through this final week’s push for the golf outing, I thought it might be worthwhile to fill you in on what we do and why we do it.
This is the 8th year, we have a 501c-3, and we expect 100+ golfers, including hockey coaches and former players. 100% of the proceeds go to the Chicago Diabetes Project. My son Matthew was diagnosed at age two, and I have two more kids on my peewee team living and playing hockey with Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 is entirely different from type 2 diabetes and many parents feel it should be called something different because too many people think it comes from a bad diet.
It’s not even close to that. It’s hereditary and has nothing to do with unhealthy living. Max Domi (Montreal Canadiens) has it, so did Jay Cutler (Chicago Bears). The crux of T1D is that it is constant, living w/ T1D means you’re checking your blood sugar every hour making sure it doesn’t go too high (feel drunk on coffee- agitated) or too low (quite simply, will die). A perfect blood sugar will buy you one hour of peace of mind then all can go haywire in an instant. One of my player’s parents drive an hour each way to play me at St. Jude becuse knowing I’m on the ice gives them peace of mind. Amazingly and sadly, both my captains are T1D and if you watch our practice, you’ll see me coaching and constantly checking my phone because I have all three boys monitored on my phone so I’m watching blood sugars throughout, advising on gatorades or insulin or rest or whatever is required at that moment in time.
Check out this blog I wrote and see pics of our boys- https://toedragapparelblog.com/2022/03/25/giving-away-free-socks-to-cure-type-1-diabetes/
It sucks badly for these kids; they are forced to be mature because this disease can literally kill them if they don’t manage it properly. My goal has always been to cure Matthew before he goes away to college- he’s eleven now. At college, with the drinking and being away from their support system is when really bad things happen to T1D kids. One night of passed out drinking and some kids never wake up. Chicago Diabetes Project has done 600+ clinical trials with 100% success rates thus far. Dr. Jose Oberholzer came here from Switzerland to cure this disease and when I asked him “why Chicago,” he said “If its good enough for the atom bomb…” But now we are facing the hardest and most expensive part- getting FDA approval and big insurance on board. I’m hoping some of our hockey community with big jobs might have charitable reserves left this year to help us end this struggle. And if not, thank you for considering and we’d love to have you golf with us should you be in the Chicago area.
I started Toe Drag Apparel for this reason and I will not stop until we complete our mission. And forgive me if this note is overly presumptuous, but our hockey community is one of the most prideful and fulfilling aspects of my life- I am so incredibly grateful for the relationships our parents provided us through this great game. You, my dad, all the parents who drove us hours away to 6am practices and took time off work for tournaments all across the country and Canada, paid our ice bills and drank bad rink coffee… it was never about making the NHL, the great gift you gave us was the network of friendships that have grown from all over the continent and which will all last a lifetime. The reason I don’t put logos on my golf shirts is because if someone comes up to me in the clubhouse or on the tee box and says… “ARE YOU WEARING A FRICK’IN LANNY McDonald ON OLD COLORADO GOLF SHIRT?!” Well then… that’s the guy I want to have a beer with and we just instantly became friends. There’s nothing like hockey people in all the world. We take care of one another, no questions asked, no hesitation, we are all one team, and…. thank you for that, on behalf of all of us.
If you’re in Chicagoland, grab your clubs, put your hockey stick in your golf bag and let’s go! You’ll know 50 of our golfers and be one person removed from the other 50.
Click here for our registration link and available sponsorships- http://www.golfinvite.net/hockey
Thank you
Much love, Dan
Hockey Dad, Coach, T1D Warrior & Wannabe Entrepreneur 