Student Blog

We are Jette, Ruth and Mara. Since this school year we are here in Kimberley as international students. One thing which is really interesting here is the importance of ice hockey. We already watched a few games and after some time we had a couple questions. So how can we find the answers? The easiest way is probably to ask a person who is involved in this topic. We did an interview with one of the hockey players - number 17.

Matthew Saretsky is 17 years old, a player of the Kimberley Dynamiters. He has played hockey for 14 years now and his position is left wing.

One question we had was how do the players know when they have to switch (come off the ice onto the bench) during the game. The answer was easier than we thought: normally you switch when you're tired but sometimes there’s a certain line of players so you go together.

The Dynamiters have 3 jerseys, a black one, a white one and an ultimate jersey, which is blue, gold and red. It’s for special occasions. On a game day the players have to wear a suit, also when they go to school. It should prepare them for the game so they get more focused and more serious. 

At this point there are 23 players on the team. All of them have to find the balance between hockey and things like school and a job. And especially if you go to school like Matthew. As he said, it's a tight schedule, school and hockey are every day. They practice 1 1/2 hours every day besides Sundays. 

We also asked if you can have a girlfriend/boyfriend when you have such a tight schedule. He answered yes and no. Some players have one, but he personally doesn’t right now. The distance is also a difficulty.

We also asked Matthew a really typical question. What is his favorite hockey team and player? The
Vancouver Canucks and Patric Kane who plays with the Chicago Black Hawks. 

He wanted to be a Dynamiter because he only heard good things: the team, the town, and the
coaching. For the future he wants to get into the junior A level and then be part of a college or
university team. 

After the interview we would say that it is kind of a job if you play hockey at this high level and it was
really interesting to hear the perspective from a hockey player.

Blog post and photo submitted by Selkirk Secondary School students Jette, Ruth and Mara from Germany.