Carmel Valley’s Pearl Hibsman was recently honored as the San Diego Gulls Hockey Mom of the Month at the team’s season home opener on Oct. 18 at Pechanga Arena.
At the game, Pearl’s hockey-playing daughter Zoey was part of a group of kids on the ice with the Gulls players during The National Anthem, representing San Diego youth hockey.
“It was a very special night,” said Pearl, a hockey mom who has also worked as the front office at Carmel Creek Elementary School since 2019.
Nominated for the recognition by her husband Ted, Zoey and Ted said Pearl deserves to be Hockey Mom of the Month because she comes to all practices and games, helps haul equipment, cheers very enthusiastically and keeps all jerseys and gear clean. And perhaps most importantly, she makes brownies for the team and staff.
At the game, Pearl got a huge cheer in the arena when she was shown on the Jumbotron—there were almost 80 families from Carmel Creek School there as part of a PTO fundraising night, as well as friends from Zoey’s school Solana Pacific and her hockey team. In another local connection, Carmel Creek PTO President Liz Kubiak got to ride the Zamboni in between periods, wearing a Carmel Creek t-shirt and waving Cougar mascot hands at the crowd.
The Hibsman family and hockey go way back. Growing up in Southern California, hockey was a little foreign before the Wayne Gretzky era but once Ted went to a Los Angeles Kings game, he wanted to play. Once he tried it, he got his brother and two sisters involved. His sister, now in her late 40s, still plays in an adult league in Los Angeles. While Ted no longer plays, some hockey parents are encouraging him to come out of retirement.
At nine years old, Zoey is now the hockey player in the family, playing for the Poway Little Ducks. The fourth grader at Solana Pacific School just started playing hockey last year.
“I used to do figure skating,” Zoey said. “My dad said that I should just try hockey….and when I tried it, I liked it.”
Every Friday she is at Poway Ice for practices and she plays games at the rinks around San Diego on Sundays: Carlsbad Icetown, Escondido Sports Center, San Diego Ice Arena in Mira Mesa and the Kroc Center. Zoey got started through the San Diego Gulls Learn to Play Hockey Program, which provides kids with free equipment and a jersey when they sign up for the introductory course. Her brother also tried hockey through the program. He has since transitioned to tennis but Zoey is sticking with hockey.
“My favorite is scoring goals,” she said.
While Pearl never played hockey (she’s a softball player), the whole family has hockey skates so they like to skate around together. As they also own rollerblades, they also like to improve their skating skills by riding around the neighborhood.
For the honorary Hockey Mom of the Month night, Pearl was gifted with a Gulls jersey with her name on it. The family also got to sit in the penalty box while the Gulls players warmed up. They loved being able to see Zoey out on the ice for The National Anthem with the teams. When she skated out to the blue line, one of the Gulls players patted her on the head and asked: “Are you ready?”
“They looked like midgets standing next to the players,” Ted said.
That night, the Gulls were getting blown out early, losing 6-1 to the Coachella Valley Fire Birds but they made it an exciting game, coming back and scoring four goals in the third period but narrowly losing the game 6-5.
Pearl said she is grateful to the Gulls organization for their recognition but she is quick to deflect praise, saying that her husband really should be “Hockey Dad of the Year”. Ted insists she is being modest.
“This is something I share with all of the moms, taking kids to practices and getting them suited up…just being there,” Pearl said. “It feels a little awkward being singled out, it’s something all moms should be recognized for.”
