Commitment

If you look back to my first couple posts, you will read about a young hockey player, debating how the course of her life was going to go. Everyday we pave our way and lay the bricks for tomorrow. Those thoughts that I was having back then, contemplating hockey after college and life after college paved the way for my views now. I used to dream of playing hockey after college. Of playing professionally. That dream is now my reality. That wish to say, "I am a professional hockey player" is now a reality and an occurrence that comes often when explaining my plans for the future. I say that I want to help people achieve their goals, I say I want to help people train, be recruiting and thrive in the game of hockey. This want comes for my own personal need for all of those things. I have learned through my professional recruiting process that if I had done the same things when I was in high school, that I have done this past year, I wouldn't have struggled so much with the recruiting process and those days when I was in high school worried if I would make it, would never have been there.

Being recruited is very simple. Produce a product that coaches desire. I am not just talking about on the ice, athough extremely important, it isn't the only thing that makes a player desireable in coaches eyes. Who you are, off the ice, in the weight room, in the classroom or workplace, in the kitchen, and in the eyes of others is important to consider when you are trying to produce the best product for coaches. The habits that you produce daily will effect your success in the recruiting process and in your career after the recruiting process. I personally don't have my emails from my college recruiting process, however I do have my emails from my professional recruiting process.

The first thing that I want to emphasize with you all is that hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. This is a quote that was told to me daily when I was a freshman in high school. I wish I had listened to it then. I am a Division III college hockey player. When I was in highschool, I didn't produce a product that was desireeable enough to be a Division I athlete. Not that I wasn't good enough or talented enough, I didn't brand myself hard enough. I did not make the same mistake in my professional recruiting processes. I have learned through college hockey the things I need to do for success. These things may be different for you. There are some people that just show up and are great, I was not one of those people. I worked for everything I recieved. These things that I learned in college hockey, I committed to and still comitt to daily. This daily commitment has made me more desireable as a player and a person to coaches.

I have made a commitment daily to:

1. Take care of my body: adequate nutrition, sleep, vitamins, minerals, work life balance and many others.

2. Train for strength, functionality, and hockey specific: Who you are in the weight room and off ice training reflects substantially on who you will be on the ice. I work out daily, even if we have practice. This commitment to a routine will help form the commitment process and will set habits that are positive in all aspects.

3. Giving 100% to my craft (Hockey). This means to me showing up early, staying late, working on skills that are lacking and having the desire and need to get better everyday.

4. Focus on the things that make me happy (all the above).

5. Be a good person (to everyone in my life).

6. Be a leader and lead by example.

I used these commitments to shape who I am. I have created a version of myself that I am proud of, that I want people to know and that I want coaches to know. My email to professional coaches consisted of the following.

• An introduction to who I am.

• The purpose of my email.

• Highlight video links

• Resume

• Letter of recommendation

• A thank you.

I sent letters like these to over 50 coaches. I worked everyday on this, day in and day out for several hours a day. The time I spent paid off and I have now signed my first professional contract. I was told in the beginning I would never play in this league right out of college. I was told that I wouldn't even be considered. I was consider and I will play at this level, I found a team that I am proud to be apart of and I am excited to wear their jersey. I worked hard to get here because I committed each day to my dream.