Nolan Basteyns '27 Recruiting Profile

I love hockey.  I have been playing since I was six years old and have loved every second of it.  I also play high school baseball and have been playing baseball since I was four years old, but hockey has been my passion.  For most of my hockey career I have been one of the smallest players.  When I was 13 I played 14U AAA for the Ontario Jr. Reign.  I was one of the few players I saw that was a 13 year old playing at that level and I had not yet gone through a growth spurt so I had to learn to be physical and battle players that were almost twice the size of me.  This was the best thing that has happened to my hockey career.  I learned to take hits, make clean hits, battle in corners for pucks and play at a much faster speed than what I thought I was capable of.  As a center I became really good at winning faceoffs and was willing to do all the dirty work like taking pucks out of the corners.  Bigger and stronger players weren't willing to put their bodies on the line so I took that on myself and it really made me a better player.  A lot has changed in Southern California hockey since that time as they have really limited our AAA opportunities and with high school beginning for me, I couldn't make the two-hour drive to Los Angeles from San Diego for the closest AAA team so I have been playing AA since and went through a growth spurt last summer.  Currently I am playing 16U AA as a 15 year old.  I dedicated last summer to hockey training and was doing weightlifting, plyometrics and running 6 days a week, while doing skating treadmill and on ice skating work 3-5 times a week.  All that hard work has paid off as I feel stronger and faster than I ever have on the ice.  I love to do the skating treadmill workouts and on ice power skating work and have continued doing that during our current season.

I am a young sophomore in high school (Class of 27') and will graduate before I turn 18.  My ultimate goal is to attend a great university and represent that university playing hockey.  I am will to do whatever work it takes to accomplish that goal whether it be on the ice, off the ice and in the classroom.  To me, there is nothing more important than the sweater you put on and the team you are representing.  I am a 3.9 student while taking several honors and AP classes.  At Grossmont I played for the football team as a freshman, and currently play on the baseball team.  Our hockey practice schedule this year conflicted with football so I chose to only play hockey this fall.  I feel like I am a quiet type of leader.  I am not one to raise my voice to teammates, but I lead by example.  I lead with my work ethic and play both on and off the ice.  With that being said, I really want to continue to work on my leadership skills and eventually become a captain of my University or JR team.  

Despite being a bit of a late bloomer in terms of size, I have the genetics to keep growing.  My dad is 6'1 and played both college and professional baseball and comes from a family with a lot of athletic success.  I am going to continue working hard on my skills development, skating/speed, strength and academics and I know that I can be a player to help any program.  My love for this sport and my work ethic will continue to make me a better player each day.  I think my most important attribute is I am very coachable.  I love to keep learning the little nuances  of the game and add them to help my team win.