The path that Ohio defenseman Paul Sergi took on his way to becoming a Bobcat is reminiscent of the one coach Dan Morris took when he came to Athens as a player in 1993.
Both Sergi, a junior new to the team this season, and Morris transferred to Ohio after attending Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.
Sergi, who is studying marketing at OU, chose to attend Wilfrid Laurier while playing for the Kitchener Dutchmen, a junior team from Kitchener, Ontario. Although this decision placed an additional strain on his time-management skills, he said it paid off in the long run, allowing him to come to Ohio as a junior.
“Going to school was difficult, but hockey keeps you on a routine schedule,” Sergi said. “If you’re able to manage your time well, it can be done. I wouldn’t change anything about my experience.”
Morris said that he has always felt it important for players to concentrate on their academic endeavors while also pursuing collegiate hockey.
“Some guys handle it better than others, but the best part is continuing your education while playing junior hockey,” Morris said. “I always recommend that players take classes while attending junior hockey.”
Sergi’s decision to join Ohio’s squad is one that has been fruitful for the team through the early part of this season. The Bobcats have benefited greatly from his contributions on both ends of the ice on their way to developing a perfect 6-0 record through three weeks of play.
Growing up in Mississauga, Ontario, a small suburb southwest of Toronto, Sergi was faced with pressure to pick up Canada’s national sport, though he says he formulated most of his interest on his own.
After starting to play at the age of four, he quickly became absorbed into the hockey culture that drives many of the sport’s Canadian athletes.
“It’s almost like you’re born with a hockey stick,” Sergi said. “It was the kind of thing where my father was waiting for me to get old enough to join a league. When the time came, it was time to start playing hockey.”
After finishing high school, most collegiate-level hockey players join junior league teams, a high-commitment and travel-heavy experience that leads to many players arriving at the collegiate level with few credits and a level of maturity that is atypical to their freshmen statuses. Such is the case with Ohio freshmen James Howard and James Hubbard, age 22 and 24 respectively.
The four years of play eligibility that each player is granted gives Sergi the option of continuing his play for the Bobcats during graduate school if he so chooses.
Morris says that Sergi is a mature player with many of the qualities that he looks for in the recruiting process.
“Paul is exactly the type of player we were looking for— a defenseman with good size and hockey sense off the chart,” Morris said. “His hockey IQ is really good, and because it’s what we look for in an individual, he’s a nice addition.”
jd202409@ohiou.edu
