Lump in throat before game, teenage passion? (6,6)

'lump in throat' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'game teenage passion?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'game' could be 'hockey' (hockey is a kind of game) and 'hockey' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'tonsil' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'before' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?