Nancy Little
Nancy Little took power skating lessons and began playing hockey in 2002 after watching her daughter play goalie. “It looked like fun,” she says, and she knew she needed to move. “I was having pain in my knees and ankles from OA, I was out of shape, and I feared developing RA, as my grandfather and mother had,” Little says. Doing aerobics and lifting weights left her cold, so she vowed to find a sport she could play.
Arthritis aside, playing hockey isn’t the norm for a 50-year-old mom. But Little loved everything about the game from the moment she stepped onto the ice. “There’s a sense of freedom when you skate – the cold air is rushing by your face, and you’re gliding up and down the ice, moving fast,” she says. “The game is the only thing you can focus on for the hour you’re on the ice. It’s a great way to let go of stress.”
She even admits to loving the rough and tumble of competitive playing. “We don’t really check in the women’s league, but we do have ‘incidental contact,’” says Little, who plays defenseman for the Circle City Sirens in Indianapolis. “And I like the physical contact. I don’t know if that’s good or bad,” she says with a laugh. “I’ve even been in a fight or two. I’ve sat in the penalty box more than once.”
Little plays on several different women’s and co-ed teams, both in competitive and recreational leagues. She relishes the friendships and camaraderie, even playing on the same team as her daughter occasionally (who plays forward on women’s teams). In fact, she credits their shared passion for bringing them together. “Our relationship has gotten much closer since we started playing together,” she says. “We’ve become very good friends at the hockey rink.”
Both mother and daughter have a competitive streak that serves them well on the ice. “I love winning,” Little says. “It’s not the most important thing, but I do like to win the game.”
Since she began playing, Little has banished her ankle pain completely and seen great improvement in her knees. Her doctor “is all for it – every time he sees me, he asks if I’m still playing and tells me it’s the best thing I can do,” she says.
Although she’s one of the oldest members on each of her teams, Little already is talking about starting a senior league. “I see myself playing at 60,” she says. “In fact, we all hope we’re still playing at 70. We want to play a long, long time.”
What a Little Movement Will Do
Moving your body – whether through sports, walking, lifting weights or any of the other thousands of ways in which you can be active – helps you in a number of ways:
• Strengthens muscles, which better support joints
• Increases range of motion
• Keeps bones strong, warding off osteoporosis
• Delivers nutrients to cartilage
• Improves mood
Nancy Little is convinced. “After watching my mother, who had rheumatoid arthritis, I vowed to myself that I would find a sport I could play,” she says. “It’s so important to understand that moving keeps you healthy. I can do so much more than my mom could at my age.”
Meet others who love to move:
Dorothy Hamill, champion ice skater
Erik Lindbergh, passionate skier
