Matt Scherer has come a long way since his childhood days of playing youth hockey for the Sno-King Amateur Hockey Association.
After graduating from Shorecrest High School in 2000, Scherer played amateur hockey in the United States Hockey League and landed a scholarship to play at the University of Connecticut. Scherer graduated from UConn in 2007 after an impressive collegiate career; he set the school record for goals scored in Division I and was named a three-time academic All-American.
Now Scherer is a professional hockey player for the South Carolina Stingrays of the East Coast Hockey League. The Stingrays are the AA affiliate of the Washington Capitals, and were crowned as the ECHL Kelly Cup champions on June 5. The Stingrays defeated the Alaska Aces 4-2 in a tough game 7 at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage to take home the title.
“As exciting as it was, it was also such a huge relief, after a couple months of battling. Every time you go out on the ice, it’s for your paycheck, for your career,” said Scherer, who scored an impressive nine goals during the playoff run. “To finally get that thing under your belt is not only a tremendous accomplishment, but there’s a huge sense of relief too.”
Separated by 4,500 miles, the two teams competed in an exhausting final series. The Stingrays traveled a total of 18,000 miles throughout the series, the longest distance traveled during a series by any one team in Kelly Cup history. Scherer recalls spending between 14 and 15 hours on the plane to Anchorage, and then arriving to discover that “it doesn’t really get dark in Alaska.”
“It’s dusk for about three or four hours, and then it starts getting light again… People are outside, still sitting under the sun at 2:30 at night”, said Scherer. “It was really wreaking havoc on a lot of people’s sleep schedules. It’s is a pretty good spot to be playing if you’re the home team.”
Despite the grueling conditions, the visiting Stingrays emerged as the champions.
Scherer’s local friends and family gathered to watch the game via closed circuit broadcast. Scherer’s brother projected the game on a large outdoor screen, and at one point as many as 50 or 60 supporters from the community were present to watch the game and cheer on Matt.
“My folks and family are definitely my number one fans. They’re incredibly supportive,” he said. “It’s enough to make a guy cry.”
Scherer’s remarkable journey to professional hockey is a testament to the merits of hard work and determination. His story shows that with perseverance and a willingness to work hard, a young aspiring athlete can make his or her dreams come true.
“Certainly hard work is the number one component in achieving your goals, and sticking with it the whole way. I don’t know if as a kid I ever thought I’d play professional hockey, but you’ve just got to look at the next step, and hope that you can achieve that dream,” said Scherer.
Scherer’s aspirations of playing professional hockey have certainly become a reality for him.
“It ended up with me out here, playing a little bit of hockey for some money. It’s been quite a dream come true for me…It’s definitely been a grind at times, and it certainly takes a little bit of luck. You need lady luck to smile on you from time to time in order to make things like that happen,” he added humbly.
Scherer’s success can definitely serve as inspiration for young athletes who cling to hopes of playing the sport they love at a professional level.
“Enjoy it every day,” said Scherer in a word of advice to younger athletes with similar goals as he once had. “Come and be ready to work.”
Scherer has renewed his contract with the Stingrays in South Carolina for the 2009-2010 season.
“I’m looking forward to getting back at it again in the fall,” said an optimistic Scherer.
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