Abby Drake
Staff Writer
Coppell has a reputation of having some of the top athletes in all sports. Although he is only here for 12 weeks of the year, Collin Jacobs is 18 and in arms’ reach of becoming a professional hockey player.
Jacobs has played hockey, as center forward, for 14 years on three different teams. Two of theses teams are here in Dallas and the other one was in Seattle. Jacobs was dedicated to his club teams and never had time to play on the Coppell High School team.
“Hockey has always been my passion and I truly hope to be playing hockey for a living,” Jacobs said.
The usual path of a hockey player starts with club teams, or depending on skill level the player might advance to a junior league. Junior leagues are basically amateur hockey leagues for players between 16 and 20.
It is on these junior league teams that scouts from either college hockey teams or professional hockey teams typically look at them.
At 15, Jacobs showed greater talent than most players in his age group and several older than him, so he advanced on to the junior league and moved to Seattle. Jacobs is now a part of the Seattle Thunderbirds, where is he is considered a professional and is paid for playing.
While in Washington, Jacobs lived with a bullet family, which is a family with open rooms allowing hockey players to live with them while they are in season, and one of his teammates. Jacobs does attend school in Washington, but education is not his top priority due to the amount of time he must dedicate to hockey. When his season is over, Jacobs comes home to Coppell and is enrolled in classes at CHS.
Jacobs showed amazing performance during his second year on the junior team. He played all 72 games and scored 13 goals and 13 assists. These stats are sure to catch the attention of many people looking for young talent.
“He sets his goals high and tries his best to reach them, when he comes up short he gets upset but it makes him try even harder for his next set of goals,” senior Goodwyn said.
Jacobs’ amount of dedication on the ice is impressive, and it takes a lot to be able to move with six inches on steel on slippery ice trying to catch a small puck.
“Our workout schedule is rigorous and mandatory,” Jacobs said. “From 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. we do regular weight lifting, then two hours of skating on the ice and end with a cardio workout. My diet is full of carbs to give me the energy to keep up.”
Although his hard work is impressive, the fact that he is 18 and on the fast track to a professional career in the sport that he loves holds a sense of amazement and pride.
The future for Jacobs is very bright and over the last season Jacobs met with every NHL teams. If for any reason he is injured or unable to play anymore, he still has full rides to several Canadian colleges in his pocket, but he is not allowed to play hockey for them since he waved his right when he joined the WHL.
Because of his hard work and immense dedication over the last 14 years, Jacobs is likely to be drafted by an NHL team this next season. There is no guarantee which team he will be on but several teams have their eyes on him.
“Collin is a phenomenal person on and off the ice, no matter where his hockey takes him he will expand his talents and bring positive progress to his team and the sport,” senior teammate Garret Peterson said.
