Article by Felicity Harding. Photo by Felicity Harding.
Hockey season on campus may be done, but that doesn’t mean hockey is done for the summer for a few Huskies, as the Spencer Meier Hockey Camp is just getting ready to start.
“I had a lot of great experiences at camps growing up in Sartell, St. Cloud area, and I just wanted to give back. I remember coming to St. Cloud games and just looking up to these guys and just like being one of those kids down by the glass during warm-ups, just watching them like, wow, this is super cool. And like you looked up to these guys like they’re your idols. When I was here, I had guys that I looked up to all the time. John Swanson was one of them. And it’s so cool to have a relationship with them to where I wanted to start a camp and give that to kids who go down by the glass, but they don’t necessarily get to build a relationship. They get to come to the camp and build a relationship with these guys and basically become friends with them,” said former Huskies Captain and camp coach Spencer Meier. “The coaches, they just love coming back. I say it all the time, but it’s honestly more fun for us than I think it is for the kids. Obviously, the kids have a blast, but we do too. And just being able to kind of communicate with the kids and kind of give them someone to look up to and kind of learn from, that’s what I kind of wanted and that’s my goal for it. And so far, so good.”
The camp is run by former Huskies captain Spencer Meier, and some of the guest coaches are some of his former teammates.
“When I was a freshman, he was the captain of the team and he was someone that I looked up to and he kind of just did such a good job of bringing people in that when I come in as a freshman here at St. Cloud State, making sure that the culture is good. He brings guys in, whether you’re a freshman, a transfer, whoever it is, just brings you in,” said Huskies Captain and camp coach Josh Luedtke. “I was able to play for a few years here with Spencer as the captain. One year he was telling me about how he’s doing this summer camp here in Sartell and asked me if I wanted to be a coach for it. So he was able to invite me to coach for him and it was definitely a huge honor to be a coach at his camp. And then it was just an amazing experience to be able to do that. So I’m very thankful for the opportunity and it’s been awesome to be a part of.
“My freshman year, Spencer was our captain. And so just kind of getting to know him throughout the year, he kind of just invited me to help out for his camp. And yeah, I’m glad he asked me because it’s been a fun experience ever since,” said Huskies redshirt-senior forward Ryan Rosborough.
For the kids, the camp helps build leadership skills and make them better teammates.
“I’ve always led by example or tried to. I’ve always worked extremely hard, tried to do the right things. Nobody’s perfect, but I think that’s just kind of the mindset. The camp slogan is work hard. Be a good person. And you can apply that to hockey, you can apply that to life. That’s what’s cool too is as a hockey player, you’re not just a hockey player. Like I’m Spencer Meier, not Spencer Meier the hockey player. You know, like in life, you got to work hard and you got to be a good person. And that’s how you kind of succeed in life or it’s at least a good recipe for it,” said Spencer Meier. “And that’s what I try to teach the kids is just, you know what? Yeah, we’re here to play hockey and to have fun, but we’re also here to learn. And in life, let’s be good people, let’s work hard. And it’s not all about hockey. Hockey is great. It’s given me so many memories and life lessons and it’s awesome. But there’s more to life than just hockey. Like go out there, have fun with friends, you know, work hard, be a good person and whatever you do, whether it’s hockey, whether it’s, you know, baseball, football, whether it’s not even sports, whether it’s, you know, choir or band, just give it all you got. And that’s bringing that leadership aspect of just the mindset-wise to the kids.”
Spencer Meier’s Hockey Camp provides a local opportunity to develop the leaders of tomorrow.
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