Mitchell Gawel '25 Recruiting Profile

After winning the 23/24 U16 AA National Championship title and finding my stride as one of the top players as well as one of the top goal scorers at that level, it became clear I wanted to take my hockey career well beyond youth hockey.   I was recruited to play U18 AAA for the Windy City Storm for the 24/25 season, where I continued to challenge myself and develop my game.  My ambition is to play college-level hockey, while I earn a degree in Business Finance.   My coaches will say I am a great student of the game and very coachable.  I believe I add appropriate levels of in-game creativity, without sacrificing good fundamental hockey play.  I am an intense competitor, with outstanding work ethic on and off the ice.   I commit the same level of intensity to practices as I do games.  

I have had very successful youth athletics career achieving accolades in Lacrosse, Baseball, Golf, and Hockey.   I believe there are skills I learned in each of those sports that helped me rise to the level I am achieving in Hockey.  

I have learned to mange a healthy balance between family, sports, work, and academics.  I am a good student, and since I was 9 years old, I have been running my own lawn service, mowing roughly 13 acres of property per week over the summer, and am also a caddie at a private country club.  In winters, I focus on school and hockey.   

I work hard, play hard, and have amazing support from my family.   I am focused and determined on my new hockey goals, and I look forward to continuing to develop and elevate my level of play, as I gear up to play Jr. Hockey in the fall.