We wrapped up the year of tutoring with a trip to the Minnesota zoo and a grillout. The kids loved it!

For the second straight season the PeeWees captured a trophy in the competitive District One Playoffs. Trophies are awarded to the top three teams to emerge from a grueling double elimination tournament. This year's team survived to the last day of the season after playing five games in six days, and they earned third place.

Here are the players and their "nicknames" from the 07-08 PeeWees:

• Jalin "The Natural"
Any time. Any position."
• Callaway "Anxious-to-go Dino"
• Sam "It's tough to have a bad game when you play for the Dinomights!"
• Jesse – "Captain Dinomight"
• Sandy "The Show Must Go On!"
• Layana "Oh, am I bleeding? I'll take care of it later. I've got a hockey game to play."
• Janaya "I own the slot"
A great scorer from the front of the net!
• Joeny "Hustle Heart"
Always chasing the puck, always smiling and encouraging
• Kid Keenan
The fourth and final DinoMight in the Baynard Family posessing endless talent.
• Jacob "Cool as Ice"
Jacob is always cool under pressure, and he makes the most ridiculous moves look easy!
• Josh "Jarome Iginla"
The teams leading scorer does it with gritty toughness and intensity
• Michael "The Human Cannonball"
If you ask him what he likes most about hockey he'll tell you he loves to check.
• Levi "The Lover"

Today we took the DinoMights to Feed my Starving Children, and then had a "Winter Break Party."

18,000 children die of hunger EACH day. Feed my Starving Children is committed to feeding God's children both hungry in body and spirit. They provide a sense of hope and some sense of sustainability in many places around the world.

Feed My Starving Children

The DinoMights demonstrated their "off the ice" team work skills today as they packaged up meals.

Overall, it was a really powerful experience for the DinoMight youth to serve together.

Dear DinoMights Friends and Family,

As I am writing this letter, I am reflecting on almost ten years of coaching the DinoMights. I have plenty to reflect on because as some of you may know, tonight I coached my final game as a DinoMights coach. It was a tremendous blessing to see our Pee-Wee team take home the second place trophy and end the season on a positive note. After the Peewees showed courage and unity in defeating Langford in a thrilling 3-2 victory, the team presented me with a collage of pictures and signatures wishing me well and thanking me for the years I've spent as their coach.

I maintained my composure in the locker room after the game as any good coach would do, but as I left the rink and sat down in my car, I wept. I wept tears of joy and tears of sorrow as I reflected on how much this program has meant to me over the years. I have had the pleasure of meeting so many players, parents, and fellow coaches since the first Hockey in the Hood camp I attended in 1997 and I must admit I feel like I've been personally blessed and been given more than I've received over the years.

When I first knelt down at center ice for the 1997 Hockey in the Hood camp, I immediately felt like I was part of something special. As any hockey player could tell you, the hockey rink can be a difficult place to honor the Lord yet still keep the edge needed to play a fast-paced physical game. The DinoMights changed that for me and I am grateful that God brought me to the ice that summer so I could learn that the game could be coached and played in a way that would bless all involved. Words couldn’t adequately describe how I felt that summer but I knew one thing – the DinoMights was something I wanted to be a part of for a long time.

I am proud of this organization and I am proud of what it has become. John Foley has done an amazing job in starting this program with a dream, lots of prayer, and the support of volunteers, board members, tutors, and financial supporters. Without this supporting cast, the DinoMights would not be able to exist. I am also proud of where this organization is heading. Anyone who spends a few minutes with Scott Harman knows that his passion and enthusiasm for the students and the program will allow the DinoMights program to flourish well into the future.

As I join the esteemed ranks of former DinoMight coaches with Lawrence Wang, Kyle Christenson, Jay Lindsay, and Coach Abe, I hope to continue to be a part of the family by working with Scott to develop additional ways to keep "former" DinoMights involved in the program. Please pray for us as this idea continues to develop. I will have some adjusting to do as I transition from coach to spectator but I plan to be in the stands occasionally next year giving it my best shot.

In Him, Coach Mike

If . . .

"What if our skates had rockets on them," asked a student riding in the van during one of my first seasons at DinoMights. I didn’t know what to say. I hadn't yet learned the art of conversing with elementary aged students. I just didn't understand the question. "I guess we would be pretty fast," I said with hesitation and confusion in my voice. He was pretty excited. . . about skates with rockets, and he seemed very satisfied with the conversation. Thinking as an adult, it just didn’t seem to matter. We can't have rockets on our skates so why even think about it. But I have thought about the question a lot since then, and I think that I'm starting to catch on to the magic of "if".

Now I am the one asking the "if" questions. I especially like asking the kids if they would rather have one thing or another. For example,

Scott: "If you could have any kind of car in the world what would it be?"
Kids: "Hummer"
Scott: "If you could go to the North Pole or the South Pole where would you go?"
Kids: "South Pole, because there's penguins"
Scott: "If you had to choose pepperoni pizza or sausage what would you choose?"
Kids: "Cheese."

"If" questions are all about dreams. They can be big or small; they can be about real or imaginary things. Having cheese pizza or rockets on hockey skates really represents an awe and wonder at the world, and it represents our great expectations of what we can and hope to experience.

Recently, I asked Tre, an 8th grader, "If you had to name the most important mentor or role model in your life who would you say?" He said, "Justin." Justin is one of the original DinoMights. He grew up playing hockey and going to camp just like Tre. Since graduating from high school he has become a DinoMights coach, and a well-mannered successful young man. In addition, He has given his time to be a mentor to Tre. Justin, like many grown up DinoMights, has testified to the importance of his coaches when he was young. Now he is that important person to someone else. When I told Justin what Tre had said, he was blown away. It is as if Tre was saying, "I dream to be like Justin."

Tre's answer gave me awe and wonder, it gave me great expectations and dreams for DinoMights. It makes me want to ask, "if?" What if one day a student will say that Tre is his or her most important mentor? What if more and more DinoMights' dreams can be reality? What if more and more DinoMights will become that which they are dreaming?

Hoping for Dreams to be Reality,

Scott Harman

This is an online version of the monthly support letter. If you would like to make an online contribution you may click here. If you would like to make comments on the letter or be added to the DinoMights' mailing list please e-mail scott@dinomights.com. Thanks!