A ten-year-old local hockey player’s years of training have paid off as he prepares for the Team Brick Alberta Tournament from July 1 to July 8 in Edmonton.
Adam Halat first began the try-out process for Team Brick Alberta in January but didn’t find out he was on the roster until early April.
“It was really nerve-racking after the second round of try-outs. Adam asked me every hour on the hour if the roster had come out,” said Adam Halat’s father, Moe Halat.
“It was nerve-racking because this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I had to give it all I got because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have made it,” Adam said.
Playing centre for Team Brick Alberta had been a long-term goal of Adam’s, and he put in the hard work, and time to achieve his goal.
“He’s put a lot of effort into it, and to see it pay off at this level is rewarding,” Moe said.
He added, “I was pretty excited to see how much work Adam put in, and how much time he put in to be the best he can be. To make a team like this is pretty amazing.”
Currently, Adam is training on the ice shooting pucks, and off the ice doing CrossFit, while practicing with his new team on the weekends.
Adam’s teammates are funny, nice, and really good, he said.
While on the ice at West Edmonton Mall, Team Brick Alberta has thousands of people watching the team practice, Moe said.
“When they practice in the mall at times the whole place is packed, there can be one thousand people just watching the practice. It’s pretty cool.” he added. “It’s a pretty neat experience.”
Although Adam is thrilled and proud of himself for putting in the effort to make Team Brick Alberta, he wasn’t interested in trying out until he heard about his older brother’s experience trying out.
“My brother tried out for Team Brick Alberta, but he didn’t make it. He said a lot of things that made me very interested in trying out for it,” Adam said.
He added his brother was very happy and said good job when he found out Halat had made the team.
Being on the Team Brick Alberta roster is a huge achievement, as the top 15 youth from across the province make the team, Moe said.
“It’s something that does take a log of work, and a lot of time. If [Adam] didn’t put that work in, he could have just as easily not made it,” Moe said.
He added, it’s amazing that Adam had the motivation and understanding of what it would take to get himself ready for Team Brick Alberta level of hockey.
“Hockey is my passion, I think it’s a really fun sport, and I’m really good at it,” Adam said.
