Personal Statement
My hockey career started at age five playing for a small travel organization, The Jersey City Capitals. I played there as a squirt although I was atom age. When I turned nine, my coaches felt that I needed a larger organization that could focus on strengthening my skills. It was then that I tried out for the NJ Rockets who were the youth team for the NJ Devils. I made the peewee AA team and played my next 4 years with the NJ Rockets at the AA level. My final year with the NJ Rockets, we were fortunate to make it to Silver Sticks held in Lake Huron, MI. Talk about an unbelievable experience!
My success and enhanced talent and skill really came to light while playing at the NJ Rockets. My coach with the NJ Rockets was a former player for the Hershey Bears and truly pushed me to work at my full potential. I am grateful for this every shift I take on the ice.
Upon the sale of the NJ Devils, the team was relocated about two hours away and the commute was not going to work for our family. At this time, I was getting ready to enter high school and tried out for the Montclair Blues where I played my second year as a Bantam AA player. I have continued at Montclair for the past three years as well, playing at 16U and now as a first year 18U on the AA team. I am fortunate to now have Bruce Driver (former NJ Devil) as my 18U AA travel coach for this upcoming season.
For the majority of my years playing, I played left wing. This continued including my first year as a high school freshman, and starting varsity player (Paramus Spartans…although I attend Lyndhurst High School, it is a co-op team with the charter held under Paramus High School). We graduated a lot of seniors in 2017. Noting this, I asked to make the switch to defense. After playing offense all of my previous years, I felt I was definitely ready for the challenge. Knowing the game from an offensive point, I felt I was knowledgeable to be proactive in what was coming at me now from a defensive standpoint. I am thankful to my coaches for giving me this opportunity and letting me know how “coachable” I was and that they were happy with my transition to defense. I was even awarded the Varsity Player “Most Improved Award” this season solely for taking on this change and succeeding at it. In making this change, I have shown my coaches how versatile and adaptable I am to any position they may need me to play.
For my senior year I was needed back on offense per my coaches. That being said I am back to playing left wing and have racked up 58 points so far this season with a career total of 98 points. Lastly I was chosen as 2nd team All League in our N.J. Big North conference.
In my next step as a student athlete, I would like to venture into the field of Sports Management. When I was playing for the NJ Rockets, I had the opportunity to be chosen to open the NJ Devils games when they put forth their new Fire and Ice show before each game. Seeing the ins and outs of the rink operation, media production, and all that went into getting that opening skate underway was something that sparked my interest in the whole world of Sports Management. It was a great experience for me as a young youth ice hockey player (Even though we are NY Ranger fans).
My goal in playing college ice hockey would simply be to bring my experience, motivation, drive and love of the game to an organization who is looking for a dedicated, hard working player who is a fit to enhance their team. I look forward to joining at any level which you see fit for me be it NCAA1, NCAA3, ACHA or Juniors.
