Growing up in Southern California has given me many opportunities to grow and mature. When I was a kid, my parents put me in many sports, including baseball, football, soccer and basketball. My dad would always take me to his work at a professional hockey rink, and to keep me occupied, I played with a hockey stick. I never knew anything about the sport, and my dad never even played hockey. His only experience was working at the arena. When I decided I wanted to play, I got some rollerblades and taught myself how to skate. It allowed me to play the sport I continue to love to play today.

Southern California isn’t the biggest hockey market, but I was able to find rinks around my house and played a lot of street hockey. It made me love the game even more, and especially at home, I could practice whenever I wanted to. I was a late bloomer in playing travel ice hockey and didn’t start until the age of 15 — most players start at 8 to 10 years old.

All of this happened because one coach took a chance on some kid that not many people had heard of, and he has helped me along the way ever since. I still help him out as a coach when I am back home, and he is always willing to give me advice on what I should do in hockey. At 18, all of that hard work finally paid off; I was offered a spot on a Junior Hockey team in Canada, which was a dream of mine. An 18-year-old kid moving from California to Canada to play hockey seemed strange at first, but I took the chance. Some of my teammates thought it was a joke and didn’t accept me at first, but when they saw how hard I played, they accepted me.

At the end of that first year in Junior Hockey, the coronavirus hit, and I had to move back home. I played close to home the next year but was devastated that I couldn’t return to Canada because everything was shut down. While playing at home, I traveled to Ogden to play against the Mustangs. I would have never expected to live here, but I fell in love with the area, and the following season and my last as a junior hockey player, I joined the Ogden Mustangs.

My experience was a little rough. I got injured, I wasn’t performing as well as I had in previous years and my confidence shut down. After that season, I had to look for a new home for college hockey. It was hard to get recruited after not having an amazing season, but Coach Yosh Ryjuin had seen enough of me to offer me a spot with Weber State.

I still didn’t have the confidence I usually have, but Coach Ryjuin took a chance on me and offered me a spot on the team. My first year was filled with veteran players like Kyle Lane, Andy Gorges, Jakob Besnillian and Bryon Fobair. We started 0–3 my first year, and being a freshman, I felt this would be a cakewalk because of how the ACHA is looked at as a lower level, but I got humbled quickly. I had a decent season but was hungry for more.

I worked hard over the summer and last season as a sophomore. We added a freshman class, and the core group of veterans stuck around; it was one of the best seasons I have had. There were rough patches throughout the season, but we still competed, loved each other, and bought in to win the Wasatch Cup. We also earned an automatic bid into the nationals in St. Louis.

This upcoming season marks 30 long years of Weber State hockey. Having the privilege to be a part of this program for three seasons has made it so hard to want to finish this journey with a national championship and not let it end. From the coaching staff, volunteers, players and everyone who supports us has made these years some of the best. I never knew where I wanted to go to college growing up. I was never really good at school and didn’t have much desire to go to college, but there is no other place I would rather be than at Weber State University. The school, community, and everyone around the area has helped make this adjustment so special for me. I am proud to be a Wildcat and wouldn’t want to be elsewhere.