While the reality of moving to a different town, starting at a new school and being separated from parents, siblings and best friends may seem impossible for most average 15-year-olds, for Hunter Findlater it’s just the next step in skating down the Canadian dream.
Hunter, who is starting at Woodlands Secondary School in Nanaimo this week, will be living with a family he hardly knows. He has been selected to play for the North Island Silvertips, one of 11 major midget teams around the province.
Major midget hockey is the elite level of minor hockey and its players are the best 15, 16 and 17-year-olds from around the province.
“It’s a little scary,” said Hunter. “I’ll be living with a different family and my mom, dad and sister aren’t there.” Still, Hunter finds comfort in the fact that last spring he met the family that he’ll be staying with, but, “it is still kinda weird going to a different school.”
“I haven’t even thought about it yet,” said Theresa Findlater, Hunter’s mother. “It’s going to be hard, but I think it will be hardest on my husband who works in Alberta. When he comes home, Hunter won’t be there and he’ll have to wait for the weekend to catch a game.” Like all hockey families, Theresa and Tyler Findlater are not strangers to travelling for their son’s hockey dreams. “We’ll be there. We’ll be there a lot.”
Nanaimo is home to the closest major midget team to Powell River. Theresa said that this opportunity is good exposure for Hunter. “He’s going to Nanaimo to represent Powell River,” she said. “He’s not going to become an island kid. Wherever he’s gone to play, he’s proud to say where he’s from.”
After six years of playing with the same teammates, Hunter will find himself having to adjust to new teammates. “It’s hard,” he said. Last week Hunter went to watch his old midget rep team play and was shocked when he realized that he wasn’t going to play with those guys any more. “It’s going to be hard leaving all my friends.”
The school Hunter is going to has a hockey academy and half the players on his team go to the school, Theresa explained. While juggling school and hockey, the school has a hockey program that allows the major midget players a chance to use PE (physical education) class for hockey training. This is to help players’ training work a little better with their academic schedule.
Even though Hunter will find himself living and breathing hockey, Theresa still insists that Hunter focus on school. “School first,” she said, “hockey second. If anything could come out of all of this, it would be a scholarship to university.”
While university is still a few years off Hunter has set his sights on the BC Under 17 team. Last month he tried out for their camp and just missed the cut for the main camp, Theresa said. “He’s still too young to play with the 17 to 20-year-olds, but he did pretty good. He still has stuff to work on.” Hunter said he’s going to work hard this year and try to get invited back to Kamloops to try out again next year.
“There’s always opportunities if you try hard,” said Theresa.
Hunter doesn’t know where hockey is going to take him, but he does know one thing. “If anything, after this, I want to play for the [Powell River] Kings. I’d be at home instead of living somewhere random and I’d be with all my friends.”
