Thank you Lauren!

After more than 15 years of dedication to Jaguar Hockey, Lauren Walsh has made the difficult decision to step down as President of the Jaguar Hockey Club to focus on her family and her health.

Lauren’s service to the Jaguars extends far beyond her time as President. Over the years, she has served the club in numerous roles, including Manager, Development Manager, Secretary, Registrar, and President—along with countless other responsibilities that simply needed someone willing to step up and get them done.

Throughout that time, Lauren has given an extraordinary amount of her time, energy, and heart to Jaguar Hockey. Her work has touched nearly every part of our organization, from supporting players and families to helping guide programs, teams, operations, and the many behind-the-scenes responsibilities required to keep a youth hockey organization moving forward.

More Than 15 Years of Service

It is difficult to summarize more than 15 years of service in just a few paragraphs.

Lauren has helped Jaguar Hockey navigate challenges, build programs, solve problems, and create opportunities for generations of players. Along the way, the Jaguars became more than a hockey club to Lauren and her family. Through years at the rink, tournaments, meetings, celebrations, difficult moments, and friendships, the Jaguar community became an extended family.

As Lauren steps away from the responsibilities of President, she has made it clear that she is not simply walking away from the Jaguars. She plans to assist with the transition, share the knowledge and experience she has accumulated over the years, and remain part of the Jaguar family in a capacity that allows her to put her family and health first.

We fully respect and support that decision.

For the Kids

Among the many things Lauren has contributed to Jaguar Hockey, perhaps one of the most important is the message she leaves with everyone entrusted with carrying the club forward:

We are here for the kids.

Youth hockey is about far more than wins, losses, standings, and trophies. For our players, the rink can be a place to compete, learn, make friends, build confidence, and find a place where they belong.

Every player who walks through the rink doors has their own story. For some, hockey is simply the game they love. For others, that time on the ice and with their teammates can mean much more.

That is why the work done by our coaches, managers, board members, directors, and volunteers matters. It is about protecting the opportunity for kids to play, giving them a place to belong, and making decisions with all of our players in mind.

Lauren has spent more than 15 years helping provide those opportunities, and that commitment to our players will remain an important part of her legacy with the Jaguars.

Thank You, Lauren

On behalf of the Jaguar Hockey Club, our Board, coaches, managers, volunteers, players, and hockey families—past and present—we extend our sincere gratitude to Lauren for everything she has given to this organization.

Thank you for your leadership.

Thank you for the countless hours spent doing the work that so often happens behind the scenes.

Thank you for helping guide this organization through both the good times and the difficult ones.

Thank you for the friendships, the memories, and the lasting impact you have made on generations of Jaguar players and families.

And most importantly, thank you for caring so deeply about this club and always reminding us why we are here.

For the kids. Always the kids.

Once a Jaguar, always a Jaguar. 🐆🏒

A Letter from Lauren

Lauren has shared a personal letter with the Jaguar Hockey community reflecting on her decision, her more than 15 years with the organization, the people who have become family along the way, and what she hopes everyone involved with Jaguar Hockey will remember moving forward.

I really wish I could be there tonight to say this myself, because this is not something I ever imagined having someone else read for me. But, I know if I was there in person I would be a blubbering mess, and no one needs to see that.

After more than 15 years with the Jaguars, I have made the incredibly difficult decision to step down as President.

This is really hard for me.

For more than 15 years, the Jaguars have been such a huge part of my life. I’ve been a manager, Development Manager, Secretary, Registrar, President—and probably filled a hundred other unofficial jobs along the way. Whatever needed to be done, I tried to do it.

For all of those years, I have always tried to put this club first. Sometimes probably more than I should have. I answered the phone, responded to the email, dealt with the problem, went to the meeting, worried about the schedules, the finances, the families, the teams, and everything else that comes along with keeping a hockey club going. I have lost more sleep than I can count at this point.

And I did it because I cared. I still care. Probably too much sometimes.

This summer changed a lot for me. What happened with my health was something I never saw coming. Even after everything I went through, I kept telling myself that I would get better, get back to normal, and keep doing what I’ve always done.

Just keep going.

But after some recent developments with my health, I have finally had to admit something that is very hard for me to admit: I can’t keep doing this.

This was never my plan. I wasn't planning to step away. I wasn't ready to be done. But life has a way of throwing monkey wrenches at us that we just don't see coming, and this is one of them.

For 15+ years, I have put the Jaguars first more times than I could ever count.

Now I need to be Maeve’s mom first.

I need to be there for my family. I need to take care of myself. And I need to stop pretending that I can continue doing everything when I know that I can't.

That doesn't make this decision hurt any less.

I feel guilty. I feel like I’m letting people down. I worry about the things that still need to be done and the people who are going to have to pick up some of those pieces. That's probably why it has taken me so long to finally admit that I need to step away.

I also know that I haven't been myself lately. If I haven't been on top of things, if I haven't responded like I normally would, or if I've ever seemed distracted, frustrated, or dismissive, I am truly sorry. None of that was ever intentional. I've just been trying to juggle the club while also trying to process and deal with things in my own life, and I've reached the point where I can't do both anymore.

I want everyone to know that I am not just disappearing.

We need to find someone who is willing to step into this role, and I will do everything I can to help that person. I will answer questions, share everything I know, help make introductions, explain all the crazy little things that come with this job, and help make the transition as smooth as possible.

And I hope I can still be part of the Jaguars in some capacity. This club has been part of my life for far too long to simply walk away and never look back. I just need to be able to help without feeling like the entire weight of the organization is on my shoulders.

To all of you who have stepped up, especially when things have been difficult, thank you. There are people sitting in that room who have taken things off my plate, answered the phone when I needed someone, listened when I needed to vent, disagreed with me when I needed to hear it, and helped keep this club moving forward.

I hope you know how grateful I am.

But there is one thing I really hope everyone in that room remembers after tonight.

We are here for the kids. First and foremost, we are here for the kids.

Too often, I think people can lose sight of that. We get wrapped up in teams, levels, wins and losses, parents, coaches, rules, money, ice, disagreements, and all of the other things that come with running a hockey club. Those things matter, but they aren't why we are here.

The kids are.

And every kid who walks through those rink doors has a story.

Some of them simply love hockey. They can't wait to get on the ice. They want to score goals, be with their teammates, and play the game they love.

But for some kids, hockey is more than a game.

For some of them, that hour on the ice might be the best hour of their day. It might be where they feel like they belong. It might be where they have friends when they don't feel like they fit in anywhere else. And for some kids, the rink might be the place they go to escape whatever is happening in the rest of their lives.

You may never know which kid that is. Unfortunately, sometimes we realize who those kids are when it is too late.

That's why what all of you do matters.

As board members, directors, coaches, managers, and volunteers, your job is to be there for those kids. Protect their opportunity to play. Give them a place to belong. Make decisions based on what is best for them (all of them, not just one family or team). And when everything else gets loud—and it will—remember who you're doing this for.

The kids. Always the kids.

I'm incredibly proud of what we've accomplished. I'm proud of the programs we've built, the things we've fixed, the challenges we've gotten through, and most of all, the opportunities we've given kids to play hockey and be part of something.

There are so many memories tied to this club and so many people who have become part of my life because of it. For those of you who know me well, my island is small. Trust and friendship doesn’t come easy for me. But, if you were to peek into one of our family parties you will see that our family has expanded outside of our biological family. This slowly happened over the course of 15+ years. It didn’t happen overnight. I am honestly not quite sure when it happened exactly. But, I am so proud to say that those parties are now filled with our extended “family” Those are the people who have been there for us, cried with us, jumped in and helped without asking, visited us in the hospital, rushed one of our kids from inwood to canlan, transported one of the boys to an out of state tournament when we couldn’t carbon copy ourselves, celebrated with us, braided Maeve’s crazy hair, delivered items to our kids in college, vacationed with us, disciplined our kids when they needed it, talked sense to Quinn when he was talking nonsense, or simply just listened.

So please know that I'm not stepping away because I stopped caring.

I'm stepping away because I finally have to acknowledge that there is something that needs me more.

For more than 15 years, I have given the Jaguars everything I could.

Right now, I need to give that time and energy to my family, to my health, and most importantly, to being Maeve's mom.

I hope everyone can understand that.

And from the bottom of my heart, thank you for letting me be part of this club for all these years.

And please—no matter what happens next, never forget why we're here.

For the kids.