Nathan Schwartz Player Biography

[Njschwartz03 33]

Born in Dresden, in eastern Germany, Nathan Schwartz’s family immigrated to the United States when he was just a year old. In their new home, Bristol, PA, the Schwartz’s were indoctrinated in a rich history of hockey culture. Located just down the road from their town home on Beaver Street in Bristol was the historic Grundy Ice Arena. The home of youth hockey teams across the northern Philadelphia suburbs, Grundy has been a staple of the Bristol community for over sixty years. Schwartz’s older brother, Zach, was the first of the family to lace up the skates. He and his younger twin brothers, Nathan and Kyle, would become icons of the suburban hockey town. Schwartz first started skating at just three years old, and shortly after was on Grundys own youth hockey team, the Grizzlies. Quickly, Nathan showed a natural ability for the beautiful game and he would be moved up two age brackets two play with his brother for the Senators, Grundys other team for more talented players. The brothers would dominate the youth hockey scene in the region, many of their highlights going viral on YouTube. Zach, an undersized goalie with incredible flexibility made acrobatic saves look routine. Nathan, looking minuscule next to the older players, would fly past defenses and bury pucks in the oppositions net at a furious pace. He wouldn’t be tiny forever though, by the age of twelve Nathan had grown to five feet ten inches tall weighing one hundred and seventy pounds. He looked like he was supposed to be there with the older players, but it was time for him to venture on. A new team was on the horizon for Schwartz as he was to spend his thirteen year old season, a regional team across the river in Mercer county New Jersey, but things took a turn for the worse. In training that summer Schwartz would take a nasty fall into the boards causing him to dislocate his knee. The diagnosis was brutal, tears of his ACL, MCL, Meniscus and a fractured patella, and his future in hockey was in jeopardy. The injury would cause Schwartz to miss a full year of hockey in what would have been a crucial year of development. Even worse, he lost his opportunity to play for one of the best teams on the east coast. Schwartz did not allow this injury to hold him back and after a long year of rehabilitation, he would come back even stronger. He returned to the Senators for his first year of high school hockey, and he dominated. In thirty games he scored fifty-seven goals  and seventy assist, and put himself in the running for Pennsylvania’s youth hockey player of the year. He would miss out on the award, but it only made him hungrier. He would finally get his chance to play for the Mercer County Generals in his age fifteen season and once again was phenomenal. He played forty games and scored fifty-two goals and notched another seventy assists that season and this time was nominated for New Jersey youth hockey player of the year, this time he won. He was officially on the map nation-wide. He began receiving offers from top collegiate programs. Penn State, Minnesota and Boston College all came calling his name offering full ride scholarships. Big name clubs were also vying for his talents, but Schwartz did not want to be far from home, and opted to stay in Mercer county. After undergoing an intense training regimen in the summer Schwartz was ready to light up the New Jersey hockey scene for his junior season, and he did just that. He posted thirty-seven goals and forty-two assists in just sixteen games that year before a high ankle sprain would cut the season short for him. The minor set back did him no favors, as the college programs who a year prior were screaming his name started to get cold feet. They saw an injury prone player playing in an uncompetitive league on a team full of talented players. His job looked easy, but perhaps it was because he made it look so easy. His senior season would be more of the same, thirty-six goals and sixty-two assists was seen as a step back from the dominance he displayed before. His added muscle seemed to help him stay healthy that year as he was able to play in every game for his team, but there were no college offers on the table. Schwartz decided he didn’t need college after the season ended so he would declare for the VHLM draft. His hopes were high, he had very strong workouts with every team in the league and saw himself going as early as the first round, but that wouldn’t be so. He would go undrafted but luckily enough was one of the first free agents signed after the draft by the Houston Bulls. This is only the start of his story, the rest of it is yet to be written, but Schwartz has a proven history of overcoming adversity and to be where he is now is an accomplishment of its own.

[AJW 1,744]

Bravo!!

[jake 84]

Nice

[Banackock 7,642]

Good work! The journey begins.