Spencer Burse '21 Recruiting Profile

I want to attend college leading with academics and I'd love to play Hockey while getting a college degree.  The first time I was on skates was at an open skate my mom and dad took me to when I was 7 years old.  I fell in love with skating and I remember begging to go again.  My parents enrolled me in skating clinics which quickly advanced to Squirt league play when I was 8. I advanced through the first season and got on the Travel team rosters until I was 11, my last year of Pee Wee travel.  I took a break from hockey to play Little League and Babe Ruth baseball through middle school and returned to Hockey my Freshman year.

My last year of Pee Wee travel was a great experience as we won the Cup at the South Bend tournament and got to play at the Compton Family Ice Arena, what an experience! We took the consolation cup in a Cleveland tournament and I was voted MVP (Iron Man) of the game.  The one thing that made me stop playing that year was the negative experiences outweighed the positive.  My coach got kicked out of three games for swearing at the refs and once for yelling at opposing fans.  Two of our players' parents got in fist fights with opposing team parents on two occasions in the stands after the games.  One of our players got suspended for the season for breaking his stick over an opponent's helmet.  I simply thought this is not the game I love to play and didn't want to be in that type of environment.

I'm so thankful I decided to get back into hockey at this level as this is the sport I love to play.  We respect each other, our coaches, our opponents, the refs, the fans and most importantly ourselves.  I love my team and I plan to work very hard at honing my skills and continuing to play year round while focusing on my grades in school.