Categories: College Sports

Three years ago, Union senior forward Matt Wilkins arrived on campus as a 21-year-old freshman. Being three years older than his fellow first-year students felt strange, at least at first.

But he had an advantage over them. Thanks to playing junior hockey in Brooks, Alberta, and living away from his home of Kimberley, British Columbia, Wilkins was ready to handle life as an older freshman. Well, maybe except for having roommates.

“I was away when I was 17, 18 years old. Coming in when I was 21, it was nothing new,” Wilkins said. “I lived on my own in the summers, too. It was, actually, kind of a step back having to live in dorms and what not. At the same time, it was good for me to get away from home and come in at an older age.”

The high-level Division I hockey player coming to college is often at a different place than other students and even student-athletes. While freshmen traditionally arrive at 17 or 18, the hockey player comes to college at 20 or 21 years old. They commit while in high school or prep school a couple years before they arrive, then spend one or two years playing junior hockey, refining their games.

When in juniors, the players are living with families. They may take an occasional class to keep their minds sharp, or not. And by living on their own, it makes them grow up and mature, and that helps them, players and coaches said.

“As far as the older guys coming in, obviously they’re a little more weathered,” Union coach Rick Bennett said. “They’ve been through a few things. They’ve been on their own.

“But in the same token, you’re starting to do things that, maybe, you wouldn’t do as a 17-, 18-year-old guy. Maybe they’re going to the grocery store and shopping for themselves. Maybe they’re cooking for themselves. I think it’s small things like that really help you out, especially when you get into a school like Union, for your sophomore, junior and senior years.”

After playing prep school hockey at The Governors Academy in Byfield, Mass., Dutchmen sophomore center Ryan Scarfo spent the 2013-14 season playing in the British Columbia Hockey League. Being that far from home helped him grow up.

“The older you get, the more you mature, obviously,” the 21-year-old Scarfo said. “Going off to play juniors all the way across the country, for myself, was a great opportunity. Being in British Columbia, I kind of figured out to learn to live on my own for real. I lived at prep school, as well. Both situations prepare you for college a little bit more, so maybe I do have a bit of an advantage over some people that are kind of moving out for the first time.”

Alex Gesing, a senior non-athlete, was in class with two of last year’s freshmen players. She was impressed with how the players handled themselves.

“They’re a little more focused,” she said. “They know what they have to do. They do have their own social scene. They all live together. They kind of keep to their own little crew. Some of them wander. They are very driven, academically, too.”

Gesing believes they are focused on how they behave socially, as well.

“They have something to maintain,” Gesing said.

Adjusting to a regular class schedule can be easy for some, and tough for others, both academically and socially. Sophomore forward Spencer Foo of Edmonton, Alberta, had no trouble with it.

“It’s definitely a different lifestyle,” said the 21-year-old Foo, who played for the Bonnyville Pontiacs of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. “In juniors, you’re getting up every day thinking hockey and go straight to the rink, and then home and back to the rink. That’s a pretty good lifestyle. Coming into college, it’s definitely a different aspect when you throw school in there. When you have guys surrounding you that have all gone through it, it’s pretty easy to adjust.”

But for 21-year-old sophomore forward and Guilderland native Tyler Hynes, it took him a few months before he got comfortable.

“The coaches did a good job in letting us know what we had in front of us,” said Hynes, who played in the U.S. Hockey League with Omaha and Fargo. “But when you go out of school two years, some guys three years and some guys even four years without taking a class, and you come into a rigorous, academic school like Union, it’s going to be hard and sit there doing homework for two to three hours at a time. What I found was the hardest part for me was just focusing and bearing down.

“The spring term is when I kind of made the adjustment. I saw a boost in my grades, as well as off-the-ice stuff. Everything came together. We come right in here freshman year, and you get thrown right in the thick of things early on. We’ve got captain’s practices, we’ve got workouts, we’ve got team-building stuff that we’re doing. It all comes at you pretty quick. Once the season slowed down, I had a chance to catch my breath, relax. That’s when I started to figure it out for myself.”





For freshman like goalie Jake Kupsky, who played with Lone Star (Texas) in the North American Hockey League last season, veteran teammates eased the transition.

“We’ve got a lot of support from the older guys, just kind of helping us out and showing us our roles,” said Kupsky, who turns 20 on Oct. 27. “When we get in the classroom, for the most part, at least I do, I have one or two other teammates in my class. If we don’t understand anything, we can always talk to them.”

After graduating from Millbrook School in 2014, freshman right wing Brett Supinski played for the BCHL’s Coquitlam Express. He didn’t take a class while playing there.

“Juniors was just solely hockey,” Supinski said. “You have a lot more time during the day and downtime to do things on your own. Here, it’s like a full day. You’re either in class, or doing homework, or in the gym or on the ice. It’s more of a jam-packed day. It keeps you on your toes. It’s a hard adjustment because you don’t have as much downtime, but it’s good to get back in the swing of things.”

Dr. Sherrie Lyons may have the best read on the Union hockey freshmen. She has been the team’s academic coordinator since the 2006-07 season, and she oversees the team study hall. She also teaches classes in nutrition, biology and evolution at Empire State College.

Dr. Lyons sees more of a maturity in the Dutchmen freshmen because they are older.

“I’ve been teaching elsewhere for a long time,” Dr. Lyons said. “Honestly, I’m almost of the opinion that 18-year-olds should not be allowed to go to college. I think some of these guys, they’ve been playing in the junior league and now they’re like, ‘I know I need to get an education, and I’m serious about it.’ They’re going to be more focused about school, and they are. They’re more mature.”