[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 3907]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING ANNE CONSIDINE FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF SERVICE TO CYHA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 20, 2002

  Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a very special person 
from my district. Special, because she embodies the characteristics of 
a special place. Anne Considine is an extra-ordinary person who has 
demonstrated how an individual can impact their corner of the world in 
very ordinary ways. Her corner of the world is Charlestown, 
Massachusetts, where she is being honored this Saturday evening for her 
twenty-five years of dedicated service to the Charlestown Youth Hockey 
Association (CYHA).
  Plain and simple, Anne Considine is a ``hockey mom''. Long before the 
political pundits of the 1990's realized the power soccer moms have in 
impacting political change, Anne Considine was improving her community 
through youth hockey. Piling the children into the family car for early 
morning ice time is an expected duty of a hockey parent in Boston. 
However, twenty-five years ago in most families, and in most 
neighborhoods, that would have been dad's job alone. Long before women 
reached Olympic and World Cup glory through hockey and soccer, Anne 
Considine was known as someone who could tighten a mean skate. Anne's 
influence in her community did not stop at the rink or at the doorstep 
of her home at 10 Tufts Street in the Bunker Hill Housing Projects.
  Anne's dedication to the neighborhood of Charlestown is well known 
throughout the community. Anne's passion for hockey, however, is what 
allowed her to reach out to her community and her neighbors as someone 
whose opinions should be respected. As a CYHA coach, president and 
parent, there was no one more tenacious on the bench or in the 
boardroom. As tough a competitor as Anne could be at times, people 
dealing with her knew that she possessed a hockey attitude spurred from 
a mother's love. This was a passion not limited to just her children 
but was felt by all the children of Charlestown Youth Hockey. During 
Anne's tenure with CYHA, her guidance was available to all the athletes 
regardless of their ability to play or pay. Anne's leadership resulted 
in the initiation of the Green Team, which allows youth that can not 
afford the ever-escalating costs of playing hockey to realize a dream. 
To some of these kids just being able to take the ice as a youth is as 
big a hockey career to which they aspire.
  Charlestown has seen many of its young hockey players move on to 
compete at the high school and college level. Some are fortunate enough 
to have enjoyed professional careers. Still others have won Olympic 
Gold. These exceptional athletes were no more important to Anne than 
those whose careers peaked at the youth level. Regardless of how far 
the skills developed at the Charlestown rink took these young athletes, 
the lessons learned from Anne Considine's wisdom and caring went with 
them. Rinks and neighborhoods from as far away as Chicago, St. Louis, 
Lake Placid, Peoria, Florida, Nashville, Cleveland, Plattsburg and 
Hampton Roads, to name a few, have felt the influence of one woman's 
love of hockey and her hometown.
  Mr. Speaker, I leave here tonight proud to say that the next 
generation of Considine's can be found mucking it up in the corners at 
the Charlestown Rink. This is a tribute to Anne's lasting impact on 
youth hockey in Charlestown. On behalf of all the hockey players in 
Charlestown--past, present, and future--I want to thank Anne Considine 
for her years of dedication to the Charlestown Youth Hockey 
Association.

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