Joe Hawkins '20 Recruiting Profile

Growing up I was exposed to skating quite early by my parents but did not start playing hockey until years later. Once I began playing it was something that I fell in love with almost immediately. The camaraderie and competition appealed to me greatly and motivated me to continue and better myself. Something else that I had a love for at a very young age was school. I truly enjoyed going to class every morning and learning new things and still do today. Being my normal competitive self I always wanted to be not only the best that I could be but also just the best. For me this mentality has translated just as well to the ice as it has to the classroom. Every year my love for each avenue has grown and now they are two of the biggest parts of my life.

            Now I also have goals.  For my hockey, I want to play at the highest level of hockey I can. For my education, I want to learn at the highest level that I can. I am now at the point in my life where I have to start making tough decisions. I could not see myself leaving either of these goals behind in order to pursue the other. From this has come my main driving aspiration to play hockey at the collegiate level. Going the NCAA route is the best option for me to not only advance my hockey career but also receive my education at a very good school, the best of both worlds. 

            This goal and my competitive nature have helped me to be the best that I can be both on and off of the ice. On the ice my hard work has started paying off being named the top defensemen for my club (SSAC) in my first year of bantam hockey. In my second year of bantam hockey I was named the top defensemen of my team as well as team MVP.  Along with other top defensemen awards in various tournaments all of these accolades have driven me even more towards getting better and proving myself at higher levels. Off of the ice my academic performance has always remained at peak level as my many achievements can attest to. I have consistently been awarded honors with distinction throughout my years in school (all core subjects greater than 90% average).

            Being an extremely active athlete and hockey player year round, especially during the school year, has reinforced my priorities and allowed me to develop a proactive mindset that allows me to balance both of my passions at the same time while still succeeding at the highest level for each. My experience as a student athlete has also allowed me to cultivate a very good work ethic that I have been able to transfer to the rink and to the classroom. This alone has made me feel very confident in my ability to balance a student athlete schedule at the collegiate level so that I can succeed in both of my passions. Busy schedules have also taught me to embrace pressure no matter what I am doing and to succeed under any circumstance.

            This past season was an extremely positive experience as I was able to make the top midget league in the province as a first year eligible player. As I was playing against opponents who were one or two years older than me, every game became a challenge, a challenge that I was always looking forward to. I have never been the biggest player on the ice and I know that will never be the case. This past season was very important as it allowed me to play against players sometimes six or seven inches taller than me. I was forced to rely on my strengths and adapt my game so that I could find success in this difficult league. Thankfully using my two biggest strengths; my skating and hockey I.Q, I was able to adapt my game not only to succeed but to also give myself an opportunity to develop other aspects of my game, such as my physical play. Throughout the year I really began to find my stride and as I started walking out of the corner with the puck more and more often my confidence began to grow.  This was huge for me, as I know I will always be playing against those who are bigger than me or older than me; I just make sure they aren’t better than me.

            Throughout my life I have gone through numerous changes in circumstances on and off of the ice. My academic career has not happened all at the same school.  As a matter of fact, I have been through four different schools during my life meeting many different people along the way. Despite these changes in scenery my grades have never suffered, as I have been able to adapt to the change in situations quickly and not allow it to impact me negatively in any way. On the ice I have been on more teams than I can count and have played with a plethora of different players. Through all these different teams, I have had to adjust different parts of my game or mindset but in the end I have always found success. Both of these examples show how adaptability is a strength that I possess and how important it has been to my success. It is also a very important factor for me when pursuing a collegiate hockey career. Living in Canada, I understand that I will have to move some sort of distance away from home if I wish to play College hockey. It is because of this fact that makes me very open-minded to wherever I play. Geographically, I do not have any preference when referring to a school. Athletically, I want to play for a program that will enable me to succeed on and off of the ice. Academically, I have not made up my mind on exactly what I want to do, however I am quite confident that it will involve the avenues of Law and or Business.