VB Hockey: Connecting with Cole

It was a very cool experience to see this event play out, even better based on one of our players being selected so high and wanting us all to be a part of his day. Two rounds later, we were able to have the same experience with Bodie Nobes, also then Grade 10, when he was selected by the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

Over the summer Cole made the decision to join Le Titan as a 16-year-old rookie and he has had a great season to date. This past week, many of us Spartans were able to see Cole in action as Acadie-Bathurst made their way to the Townships for games in Victoriaville and Sherbrooke. They also had a practice here at Stanstead College, which in its own was a pretty cool experience for all of us here.

It was great to see Cole the hockey player both in practice and at the game in Sherbrooke. All told, about 25 members of our school community made the trip to the game on Friday night, with even more coming to the Pat Burns Arena to see a little bit of Cole at practice.

It was even better to see Cole the person. Not only was I Cole’s coach but I was also his advisor. I rarely write at all about anything that has to do with individual players, but in this case I am making an exception. I have stayed in touch with Cole since he left for the QMJHL. We have texted at times and even had the odd phone call. In September I had to explain to my son that Cole was going to be playing hockey for another team. He did not understand what I meant because he is only 3, but he did understand that he missed Cole… and many of the other students from last year.

When Cole was on his way here last week, he wrote me to say he wanted to say hello, not just to me but to Gabe as well. Lets just say that this little chat on Wednesday made Gabe a Titan fan, and ever since, he has worn his “Cole Shirt” with pride and a smile.

This relationship, like many others that I see between faculty children and current and former students is one of the hidden values of being a boarding school teacher. It takes a village to raise children and so many of the students here become a part of our children’s village.

Cole was at Stanstead College for two years, and in my time here, he was the first 9th grader to play on the varsity team. In many ways, he grew up here, and at the end of last year he was ready to continue that development in a new place, but because Stanstead is such a special place, it was a difficult decision and he continues to remain connected to many of us here. Cole will be a Spartan for life.

Sticking on the theme of the individual, I will give a little shout out to Grade 10 defencemen Ryan Hopkins from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, who was mentioned recently as a major player to watch in this year’s QMJHL draft. As a program, we do our best to present our players with all the best junior, major junior and NCAA options and this type of press shows that we are doing well at this goal. It also speaks to Ryan’s talent of course.

As a team, we have had our struggles and successes this year. Over the last seven days we have gained some valuable momentum that will help us on the road to the nationals.