An unexpected summer...

At the beginning of the summer I thought that it was going to be another summer of working to pay for hockey and hanging out with friends leading into another year at Peak to Peak Charter School for my Junior year. However a week after summer began, I found that I would need surgery on my heels. Hard tissue nicknamed "Bauer bumps" was growing into my Achilles, keeping me from skating or any other summer plans until I recovered from surgery which was preformed on May 28th. As I recovered I realized that in this upcoming year I had yet to secure a spot on any elite hockey team. Lying on my bed I made a list of tryouts that I could participate in order to get on a team and focus on working for the remainder of the summer. After talking with local AAA coaches I found that competition for my defensive position was high. Team Rocky Mountain tryouts were at the very end of summer, and if I relied on this option there was a chance that if I didn't make it I would not be playing hockey this next year. I went into a scramble mode and tried to find options as to where I could play. Luckily I had a friend in town, Ryan Fay, who spoke to me about playing AAA in Dallas, Texas with him the following year. He and his father Tom contacted the coaches of the Dallas Ice Jets for me. I spoke with the head coach, Paul Taylor and was invited to the tryouts which were the weekend of June 18, only two and a half weeks after my surgery. With stitches still in my feet my dad and I drove 14 hours down to Texas. At the end of the second game of a three game tryout I was asked to come into Coach Taylor's office. He told me that I had already made the team and they wanted me to sign with them for the next season. Instantly all the worry and weight of making a team was lifted. I went home and talked with the rest of the family about the opportunity. I would be on the ice 2 hours a day, training off ice for two hours a day, going to a great school from 8-12 every day and to top it off the Fay's offered to let  me billet with them the entire year. This chance could develop me enough to give me the ability to play Division 1 NCAA hockey when the time for college came around! We decided to accept the offer and so I will be heading to Dallas August 21st... I hope to add a new post every week updating everyone on the happenings while I'm away. Enjoy!