Robert Gaffney '18 Recruiting Profile

Hockey is not just a sport as it is a lifestyle for me.  I wouldn't want to spend my days anywhere else that is not the bitter cold of an ice rink.  I have been playing hockey as long as I can remember. It is something I got hooked on and couldn't get enough of, and I also wanted to continue.  An uncountable amount of times I've laced my skates and stepped on the ice, spending hours and hours working for something that made me happy and made me want to work for the goal to win games and further my career to play the highest level of hockey I can.

   I have acquired many different traits throughout my time playing the sport I love, traits not just of an athlete but of a person as well.  Teamwork is something I believe that is my best and favorite trait, as nothing compares to making a beautiful pass to a teammate to score a goal.  Helping others is another trait I have developed that I believe helps me on and off the ice.  During games or practice, I try motivating a teammate that had a bad day or a bad game and pushing him to work harder and strive to achieve the one goal we have as a team.  Off the ice I try helping people in school with schoolwork and with classes and not just helping them or myself but everyone strive to be the best person they can be.  Other acts I believe of helping people can be defined as just simple acts that can make someone’s day such as, holding the door open for someone, picking up something he or she dropped, and just everyday manners can make people smile and help them through the day that could be going rough for them.

   I have done many different things in and out with hockey that do not just involve playing.  When I was ten years old, I saw an ad in  USA Hockey Magazine for something so breathtaking that I can only dream of. This is the place I would spend eight years returning to every summer.  Heartland Hockey Camp is something I took very seriously as somewhere to develop and have fun during the summer.  I would spend seven summers returning as a camper working on many things to make myself not just a better hockey player but also a better person.  My last year of attending as a camper I also started to work at the camp I once enjoyed going to every year.  I worked as a junior counselor which means I worked with the kids on and off the ice and also helped keep the camp running by cleaning and supervising kids throughout the day.   I would later return the next summer, this time just to work and participate in something I had enjoyed doing.  I spent this past summer at Heartland not just helping others but also improving myself in many different ways.  Being a hard-worker is something I have learned from this experience, not just from just myself but from other workers, coaches, and especially the owner, Steve Jensen.  This camp is something I hold dear to me and is something that shaped me into the person I am and is something I will never forget.