A Tale of Irish Twins, the Story of Bert Meyers [2/2]

[RunnerBert11 57]

Ro“Bert” Meyers, 1^st son of Michael & Elizabeth Meyers was born on February 29^th, that’s right leap day, in the great state of Wisconsin. He is the eldest of five children which include Ian, Gavin, Skadi, & Phineas. Having their first child at the age of 23 & 24, Mike & Liz were the kind of parents that had a work hard play hard mentality and we’re outstanding role models in the boys lives. This sort of discipline and determination that his parents displayed is a large factor into why Bert Meyers has had so much athletic success in his early years. With Bert being a few weeks into his 1^st season as a VHLM Left Winger for the Minnesota Storm and having a sizable contract to his name and a promising hockey career ahead of him, life hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows for this young winger. 

 

 

 

 

The Early Years

As soon as Bert could walk, he was on the move, always active in some way or another, him and the rest of the Meyers gang. By the time Bert was 6, there were already 4 boys in the family, two sets of Irish twins (9ish months apart for those unfamiliar with the term). Bert 6yo. Ian 5yo., and Gavin 3yo. Skadi 2yo. And Phineas who came a little while further down the road. As you can imagine this created quite the competitive atmosphere in the Meyers’ household. It was a constant competition for everything between these boys, food and snacks, shotgun on the way to school and practices, toys, parent’s attention and just about everything else under the sun. Despite this the Meyers brothers paired off you could say, and Bert and Ian really created quite the brotherly bond. Ian and Bert would do everything together and were inseparable since as long as anyone can remember.

With how Bert & Ian’s birthday’s fell they wound up in the same grade throughout school. As soon as they entered kindergarten these two were a force to be reckoned with at recess out on the soccer field. They really took a liking to soccer and played as much as they could through their grade school years. When 8^th grade rolled around Bert and Ian were made co-captains of their grade soccer team. They could work together and their level of teamwork was really something to see even at a young age. Bert was the one with great vision and a knack for passing while Ian loved being in the spotlight and scoring the goals, he could finish with the best of ‘em.

 

High School

After Bert and Ian’s 8^th grade graduation the family moved from a small town in southeastern Wisconsin to a much larger town just north of Milwaukee, in the Arrowhead school district. When the dynamic duo started high school there was an opportunity made available to them in the sports world that was never an option before for the boys in the small town they had grown up in. The high school had a sports facility with an ice rink, and they fielded a hockey team. Since the school’s soccer program wasn’t very successful, the boys decided to switch gears and give the great sport of hockey a try.

 It took the two of them a little while to gather their bearings on the ice since neither of them had ever laced up a pair of ice skates before, but by the end of their freshman year the boys had made their way to the top line on their JV squad, which was quite the achievement considering the rich history of the Arrowhead program. After having a successful first season Ian and Bert were hooked and had made up their mind that they were going to be contributors to a few more years on the state championship hockey banners hung in the ice rink.

The two of them spent most of their next summer fine tuning their skating skills and putting in some real ice time. The hard work made an immediate impact on the Arrowhead program and the two brothers helped bring the Warhawks deep into the state tournament, only to be eliminated one round shy of the championship game after one of their star defense-men underwent a tournament ending injury. The Warhawks weren’t able to even come home with a 3^rd place finish, leaving the boys with a bad taste in their mouth that only motivated them more and brought their game to new levels.

After the conclusion of their sophomore year the boys basically became permanent residence of the ice rink during the summer once again and continued to put in hour upon hour. The Warhawks took the season by storm which was no surprise to anyone in the state given the fact that almost the entire team from the year before was returning. Arrowhead waltzed through the group stage of the state tournament and were seeded #1 in the bracket. They made it through the semi-final round in a grueling overtime 5-4 victory and were the favorites to bring home a state title in the final round. Halfway through the 2^nd period one of the senior defense-men lost his cool with one of the refs after a few missed calls and ended up getting ejected from the game. This turn of events threw the entire team into a downward spiral until the team self-destructed and ended the game with an embarrassing defeat of 6-1 and a bittersweet silver medal around the fellas’ necks. Instead of letting these unfortunate events discourage the young talented duo they vowed to one another to finally leave a mark on Warhawk hockey history and get their senior year up on the state championship banner.

Senior season for the Meyers brothers and the rest of the Warhawks went how anyone would have expected with Ian and Bert at the helm and a group of hardworking talented kids right behind them. The Meyers brothers we’re clicking on a level that high school hockey had never seen the likes of. Half way through the season both had almost eclipsed their previous season’s point total and were once again on pace to a state gold medal. With one last game left in the season and a very winnable state tournament ahead of them the stage was set for the brothers to finally make Warhawk hockey school history.  The night before the final game Ian headed back to the ice rink to pick up his younger brothers Gavin and Skadi from their late session of JV hockey practice that was run a few hours after the varsity practice on pregame days. On his way to the rink Ian had lost control of his Jeep on a patch of black ice and rolled his vehicle two and a half times causing the roof to collapse in on the vehicle and ultimately ending Ian’s promising young career. After these events many thought Bert would be a kid possessed on the ice and nothing would stand between him and that state championship him and his bother wanted so bad, but Ian’s death had shook the oldest brother to the core and things fell apart on the ice. With the Warhawks essentially being down two star forwards they didn’t make it out of the group stage of the tournament and Bert hung up his skates for what a lot of us thought would be forever.

 

Post High School

He never went on to play college hockey and moved into his own apartment and got a job working at a local grocery store. Bert’s passion for hockey as well as his drive and determination had seemed to fade with the passing of Ian. Many thought this was what Bert’s life would be like forever since he seemed to lack any sort of ambition or purpose in life anymore.

 

Present Day

Let’s now fast forward five years, after not stepping foot back into the old high school ice rink, Bert was persuaded to attend his youngest brother Phineas’ first high school hockey by his parents. While watching his youngest brother lead Arrowhead to their first victory of the season Bert was taken back to the days he used to play hockey there with Ian and all the fond memories he had made with his best friend and partner in crime. Something about this experience urged Bert to pull out the old skates and get back to the sport that he had once enjoyed so much.

After playing in a rec league for a summer, Bert was starting to brush off the dust and his passion for hockey was starting to burn deep inside him once again. He caught wind of a minor hockey league team that was a day’s drive north into Minnesota and he decided he would try out for the team for the upcoming 65^th season. After a shaky first day of tryouts he was to his surprise asked back for the 2^nd day of tryouts. To many people’s disbelief he made the final cut.

 

 With a new revived passion for hockey Bert is on a mission live up to that promise he made his brother to win a state championship and do him one better with a Founder’s Cup. With the season just weeks in, Bert’s long vacation away from highly competitive hockey is showing and the left winger is off to a slow start. Do not let this slow start sully your image of Bert and the future he has in front of him yet, he has an unmatched work ethic and determination that will eventually help elevate him to elite status. Now we’ll just have to sit back and watch while the rest of the story tells itself.

[Fire Tortorella 2,653]

REVIEW: A nice introduction to Bert's personal past history. Don't know why, but Irish Twins always make me chuckle. It's not often that you hear about a player who gave up the game for multiple years go on to make a professional league, but Bert is proving everyone wrong. Hopefully he is able to use the loss of his brother and losing the state championship as motivation to become the best player he can be.

[FrostBeard 2,049]

Review : Really interesting story of a young man that is not really sure of his life calling, but finds it with the strength of his family. I am quite sure that this young lad is gonna be something in the future. Writing style is very pleasant and easy to read, plus, it allows a reader to be a part of this amazing story. On emotional level biography captures the true feeling of losing someone that is so dear to him. 9/10