Alexander Fernandes '19 Recruiting Profile

I became interested in hockey at a very young age, almost too young for me to remember, my parents had me on skates walking around the house pretty much as soon as I could walk and I was skating alone by the time I was 2 years old. I remember my Dad buying some goalie equipment when I was around 5 years old and I’ve been playing goalie ever since.

Winning 2 state Championships has most certainly a been abig highlight for me, the first occurred during my first year as a pee wee and the second was during my second year as a bantam, this one was very special as we also had the opportunity to play at Nationals in North Carolina. That year will stay in my memory as it was one of the best teams I have played on so far;it was an awesome group of kids, we jelled very well early on in the season both on and off the ice, it was like we were one huge family. We had a phenomenal Coach, one I will never forget, he was not the kind of coach that yelled and screamed at his players, he would talk to us in a very calm manner and if he needed to speak to a specific player he would take them to the side and speak to them individually instead of pointing out their mistakes and belittling them in front of the whole the whole team.

We went into Nationals as underdogs, we certainly didn’t expect to get too far, but we kept surprising everyone, including ourselves and our families, by winning game after game. Our bonds became stronger and stronger and this definitely helped us all grow and I became a more confident person and player because of that experience. We made it all the way to the National final that year but lost to a far stronger team. I definitely learnt that when you are a good team player and have good relationships with the players and Coaches on the team you are playing for, you can accomplish just about anything.

I do also feel like Hockey helps me with my academics; I am a student athlete who has ADHD. Hockey has taught me ways to refocus that I can use both during games and in the classroom, hockey is also a good release forme as it is somewhere that I can use my extra energy. Because of these outlets and focusing strategies I have become a better student and was on Honor roll for all quarters of my freshman & sophomore years so far in high school.