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Sean Blacker Autobiography

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Name: Sean Blacker

Height: 6’5”

Weight: 230 lbs

Hometown: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Position: Forward

Shoots: Left

 

 

Overview

 

 

Sean Blacker, a stout and powerful forward, put his name into the hat of the Season 46 VHL Entry Draft over the weekend and thus has begun the long and illustrious path towards VHL stardom.  Both young and poised, Sean and his agent have carefully planned out every step to the Victory Hockey League to assure the upmost success.  Below we will map out Sean’s trip thus far, through thick and thin, highlighting some of the experiences that made him the man he is today.

 

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Early Years

 

 

The youngest of 3 boys, Sean was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland to Jon and Mary Blacker.  The family resided in one of the industrial neighborhoods of Belfast, which had developed a knack for violence years before Sean was born.  Due to outsourcing, the region became susceptible to homelessness and a commonplace for drifters (both passive and aggressive).  Both an integral part to a local linen factory, Jon and Mary just could not afford to leave a relatively prosperous lifestyle despite the shortcomings that came with it. 

 

This is not to say that Sean grew up in a difficult or poor home; his brothers and parents had the upmost support for him and, ultimately, his pursuit of hockey.  However, sporadic events of violence from both political and religious differences made growing up in Belfast rather stressful.  Combine that with dodging the homeless and drifters on a daily basis, it became rather easy to get caught up in trouble.  Jon and Mary made each of their children participate in sports to stay out of trouble.  Because of this, brothers James and Mark were diehard football (soccer) fans and would play as if it were their profession.

 

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Growing Up

 

 

Much like his brothers, Sean was faced early in his life with a decision to make; what would he do to stay active in the community and out of trouble?  Football would be the obvious choice, as the three other males in his family (both brothers and father) could not get enough of it.  Sean noted while growing up, ”I remember mom having to literally pull Mark away from the tube because he was so close to it.  He wanted very much to be a part of football.”  A rather large family, Sean and his brothers were always the beanstalks in every class and activity.  It doesn’t come as a surprise though that both James and Mark would be goalkeepers during their football careers.

 

Sean didn’t see football the same way his two predecessors did.  He recalls attending a hockey game at a young age during a small family vacation, and almost immediately latched onto the sport much like Mark did to the television.  Sean recalls how graceful it was, even as a youth, watching these towering giants seemingly fly on ice.  The young Blacker would subsequently learn to skate with the help of his father, begrudgingly, at a local rink.  Sean learning how to skate at such a young age would pay large dividends later on in his life, as skating has since become one of his finest attributes.

 

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Grammar School

 

 

Ireland was not necessarily the hockey bed that other northern European countries had grown to become, and Belfast was no exception to this rule.  Sean could not find organized hockey to save his life in the city while growing up.  Because of this, Sean did not start playing competitively until he began grammar school.  At this age, it was common to see the bigger, stronger kids out-muscle and out-play almost everyone in the sport.  At a lengthy 6’1”, even before really hitting his growth spurt, Sean had very little issue skating circles around his peers.

 

Sean had impressed the school’s coaches rather quickly, and they had a plethora of ideas for how they could use Sean in their lineups.  Unfortunately, that included moving Sean into a role as a defenseman.  With a guy that size, at his age, no one could get past him, right?  Sean obliged, but wasn’t really interested in being a blue-liner.  His immense skating ability had paved a road for Sean to become a forward, and he was set on pursuing it when the time came.  The lot of them eventually made a collaborative decision to let Sean play multiple positions. 

 

As a result, Blacker ended up playing somewhat of a ‘tweener’ position for the remainder of his grammar school years.  Some of the defensive tendencies that he developed while switching back and forth would be building blocks down the road as he became an adept defensive forward and could check when necessary.

 

 

Prior to VHL

 

 

Belfast had become more dangerous as Sean made his way through his young hockey career, prompting his parents to suggest that he move away and take on hockey as a semi-professional career.  Upon graduation, Sean packed his bags and made the leap across the North Sea to Norway, where he would latch on with the Frisk Asker Ishockey club.  More commonly known as the Frisk Tigers (the club’s hockey team), Sean donned the orange and black almost immediately in a filler role during his rookie campaign.  In the midst of posting a strong 10-15-25 (G-A-P) line in season one, Sean slowly retained more and more ice time.  Sean credits much of his growth into a hockey player to playing around veterans, as the team was mainly comprised of older gentlemen.  ”Being 18 in a new country, learning a new language and adjusting to a completely different lifestyle, having a handful of ‘second fathers’ was pivotal to my success,” Sean explained. 

 

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During his first season review with his coaches, Sean had expressed interest in focusing solely on being a forward.  Initially hesitant, the coaches would agree to let him play full time as a forward.  It was a key moment in Sean’s career, for it would be the first time he would have one position since he started playing hockey in grammar school.  Now a much more robust 6’4” and 215 pounds, Sean was not just the stick figure he was labeled while growing up; he was a force to be reckoned with.

 

Sean gave his coaches very little reason to argue with their decision to let Sean play forward full-time.  As a sophomore on the team, Blacker would explode for 40 goals in route to breaking the century mark in points for his first time ever.  Blacker’s third and fourth seasons were very similar statistically, with 104 and 102 points, respectively.

 

With success comes speculation, and Sean was no different to this exercise. During his third season with Frisk, he would ponder the idea of playing professionally with the Victory Hockey League after getting a few calls from a few franchises gauging his interest.  The interest would grow ever quickly, and after the third season with Frisk he would spend a few weeks in Latvia at one of the Riga Reign summer camps.  Eventually making his decision at the beginning of the fourth year with Frisk, Sean would agree to join the VHL’s minor league draft (VHLM) in hopes of ultimately getting the call up to the big leag

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Overview 5/5 Nice Biography everything needed is there

 

Grammar 3/3 not many mistakes to find

 

leag - league

 

Appearance 1/1 Looks good

 

Over 1000 Words 1/1 Yup

 

Overall 10/10

Edited by Kylrad
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