By Leah Blain,Observer contributor
Sports were a staple in the Lund household where Shawn grew up in North Delta.
“My family was a hockey family. My dad played, I played, it was a way of life. It was just something you did. I was a better baseball player than a hockey player – but my thing was hockey.”
In the early ’80s, Lund was playing his third year of a hockey scholarship at Concordia College in Minnesota when two events steered his life in a different direction.
“I tore up my knee just before Christmas and my wife was pregnant with our first son. I had to make the decision to finish the year or come home and get on with life.”
It was a hard decision at the time, but Lund opted to go back to North Delta, giving up his hockey career and leaving his university baseball team as well.
The next few years were busy. There was a new baby, and his wife, Tami, went back to school to finish her degree.
“I went to work and she went to school. My plan was to back to school and then I got a job offer with the gas company.”
He laughs as he explains how his job landed the family in Salmon Arm.
“It was really odd. At work in those years, in the early ’90s, there was a lot of movement within the gas company. I have no idea why I put my name in for a transfer for Salmon Arm. We had no friends or family here. We decided to accept it [the transfer] and we moved on a whim.”
Right away he joined a senior men’s competitive hockey team and offered to coach his son’s team.
“You throw your name in as a volunteer and away you go.”
For the past two decades Lund has coached both his sons’ hockey and baseball teams and his daughter’s hockey and baseball teams.
“We were at the rink constantly. Those were busy times. Sometimes we were at the rink three times in one night. Between ball and hockey – it was just a blur.”
And yet, even after 20 years of coaching, Lund says he never gets tired of it.
“One thing I’ve learned is that you’re not going to learn by reading it out of a manual. I’m continually working on things; you learn as you go.”
He says years of coaching gives him the experience to know what’s going to work and what isn’t.
“If you’ve been through it before, or you’re slower to criticize, for me, there’s no question – you’re further ahead. One thing that’s worked for me – if you earn a little respect, you get a longer leash.”
Coaching and even the sport has changed over the years, he says.
“When I started, concussions weren’t an issue. There wasn’t a lot of risk management. There’s more emphasis on safety now, respect for your opponents and referees.”
And coaching his daughter’s team was very different than his sons’ teams. That first year was a learning curve for all of them.
“I learned from them how to coach girls as they learned how to play. I would say girls are more emotional than boys and more literal. They’re better at following directions.”
Lund has been to provincials several times with his sons’ and daughter’s teams.
As his daughter is graduating this year, he thinks he might take some time away from the rink. “It’s changed now, both my boys have moved on. It’s not nearly as busy as it used to be.”
He says he’s looking forward to having a “winter vacation” from coaching but it will seem a little strange to not be on the ice. From his years as an athlete he understands the thrill of learning a new skill, or achieving something special or out of the ordinary.
“It doesn’t matter what sport it is – there’s an incredible rush. There’s an increased feeling when I coach. When (the player) might be working on a certain skill and they get it and they go back on the bench and you know they’re experiencing it – you’re just so happy for them. That’s what I like about coaching. I wouldn’t rule out coming back – it will drive my wife nuts,” he says laughing.
On Friday, April 12 at the Minor Hockey Coaches Appreciation Dinner, Lund will be given special recognition.
