A Royal Welcome Home for Maj. James Dyke, U.S. Army

RICHMOND, Va. — Competitive sports rank near the top of our nation’s favorite pastimes, from attending pro games to watching the kids play. This, like many freedoms we enjoy as Americans, might not be possible without the sacrifices of our men and women in the military. Perhaps the biggest sacrifice is that of precious family time. It takes a great deal of family support for a child to participate in youth sports, and few sports require more of that than travel ice hockey.

Nobody realizes that more than Angie Dyke, a mother of three and wife of Maj. James Dyke, U.S. Army. She spent a good part of this past year enabling their oldest son Trevor to play goalie for the Richmond Royals while her husband was half a world away in Iraq. Week after week, Angie faithfully delivered Trevor to his practices and games at various rinks across the Mid-Atlantic States with younger sons Justin and Cameron in tow. A model of patience and grace, she and her well-mannered sons became favorites among the hockey families that traveled together and cheered the Royals on. “Whenever you see Angie, she never looks frazzled, and always has the kids under control. I can’t imagine where she finds the strength to do all that she does while her husband is overseas. The kids obviously have tremendous respect for their parents as well, and that speaks volumes about the strong family foundation that they have,” former player and head coach of the Richmond Renegades Scott Gruhl said. Trevor steadfastly guarded the Royals’ net and earned a reputation for great sportsmanship in sharing playing time with co-starter Sean O’Reilly. Without concern for their individual playing time, each goalie could be seen cheering and supporting the other from the bench throughout the season. Their example contributed heavily to the team’s good chemistry. “He’s a tough kid… resilient, and a real battler in net. But Trevor’s spirit and sense of humor make him a great teammate as well. The way he and Sean worked together all season was really impressive,” goalie coach Jim Wallace said. Following some early-season stumbles by the team, Gruhl got the group of pint-sized eleven and twelve-year-olds pointed in the right direction by mid-December. They came together as a team and overachieved their way to the Capital Beltway Hockey League championship on March 9th. But the celebration that followed the Royals’ trophy win was missing something for Trevor. “I wish my dad could have been here to see this,” he lamented to Coach Gruhl. Angie did too, and began thinking about purchasing some ice time to have a scrimmage among the Royals’ players when “Jamie” came home for R&R in late June. Some of her extended hockey family caught wind of it, and that was all they needed to hear. Step by step, a plan for Jamie’s “Royal Welcome Home” came together and gained support. Rink owner Brad Robinson generously donated the valuable ice time. Referees volunteered their services free of charge. The rival Hampton Whalers organization agreed to bring a squad nearly 100 miles to oppose the Royals. “Hampton Roads is a military town, and many of our hockey players are from military families. I’ve been in the Navy for 18 years and have been deployed to the Gulf several times. This is something that hits home for a lot of us. The Royals won the CBHL championship, and that’s like the Stanley Cup to our kids. It would be really tough to be deployed and miss out on such a great moment in your kid’s life,” Whaler’s assistant coach Nathanael Burroughs said. What had started as an inter-squad scrimmage had ballooned to a full-fledged post-season game, and word spread about the popular event. Come game morning, crews from three different TV stations competed for camera time with the guest of honor and his family. One by one, Jamie graciously granted them interviews with a smile and a positive sense of belief in what he does for a living and the progress that’s been made. It’s not hard to tell from where his family draws their strength. As Trevor spoke to a news reporter Coach Gruhl emerged from the locker room, grabbed his attention and pointed to his watch. “It’s fifteen minutes till game time, Trevor… if you’re not ready, there’s no game,” Gruhl barked. With the media blitz over, Jamie followed Trevor into the Royals’ locker room to say a few words to the players. A few minutes later the closed room erupted in cheers, the door burst open and the Royals filed to the home end of the ice. Fans applauded the announcement of each player’s name, but Trevor’s brought the house down with a roar of approval from the crowd. Like his father, he seemed taken aback by all the attention. “I had no idea it was gonna be this big,” Trevor said. Coach Wallace had a brief one-on-one to get his goalie’s feet back on the ground right before the game started. It was time well spent, as Hampton won the opening face-off and immediately drove the puck to Richmond’s net. Trevor deflected the attack and the Royals’ defense cleared the puck from Richmond’s zone. He took a deep breath and dug in. Richmond got on the scoreboard first nine minutes into the opening period but gave up the next two goals to fall behind the Whalers near the midway point of the second. Coach Gruhl alertly called time-out to rid his team of the butterflies, and within two minutes they had tied the score at two. The Royals forwards would add three more goals to round out the scoring while their blue-liners repelled nearly all of Hampton’s attacks from that point on. Trevor Dyke, who made 18 out of 20 saves during the game, gloved or deflected everything else that came his way — and this time with his Dad right there behind the glass. Following the post-game handshake both teams flanked Jamie while photographers snapped away. The Whalers’ coaches presented him with a gift – a videotape of Trevor playing their team earlier in the season. Needless to say, Jamie left the rink with a smile on his face and a lot of great memories. And his hockey family, along with their opponents, got a chance to thank Maj. James Dyke for his service to our country. Contact the author at: tom.brandt@prohockeynews.com Photo captions: Left: The Richmond Royals and Hampton Whalers flank Maj. James Dyke, who was all smiles in response to the appreciation shown him by the players, families and fans. Center: Royals’ netminder Trevor Dyke drops to defend an attack by Whaler forward Foster Burroughs. Right: Smiles on the faces of Jamie Dyke and son Trevor express the satisfaction of a long-awaited reunion.