Rob Mattalex - Bio [2/2]

[VanCanWin 180]

Born: January 17, 2001

Weight at birth: 10lbs 11oz

Parents: Samuel and Jacky Mattalex

 

Early Childhood

Born on January 17, 2001, weighing a whopping 10lbs 11oz, Rob Mattalex entered this world.  The third boy of his parents, Samuel and Jacky, Rob was born on a cold winter day in the heart of Toronto.  Samuel, Rob’s dad was an accountant while Jacky was an insurance broker until Rob was born. Jacky had to take some time off work due to a difficult pregnancy and birth of her third son. 

 

Rob grew up in the city in a family that loved their hockey. Though neither of his parents were athletes themselves, Rob’s two older siblings grew up on the ice to varying success through minor hockey. Being the youngest, Rob often was called upon to play goalie with siblings Chase and Phillip. 

 

Elementary Years

 

Rob attended the Brock Junior Public School at the age of 4 and instantly excelled.  Breezing through his early years of school, Rob has the smarts of kids two years older than him.  What held him back though was the fact that he wasn’t such an outgoing child.  He was popular in that all the kids liked him as he was athletic and always kind, but he often shied away from bigger groups. 

 

Still, as the years went on, Rob stayed well ahead of his class, academically. It was quite clear too that his abilities didn’t end there. He was always at the top of his class in track and field as well as every sport the kids would play. His teachers raved about him, and his parents knew their child had something special.  

 

In the meantime, Sam and Jacky had another boy.  Connor Mattalex was born on October 8, 2007. Rob finally had a younger sibling. 

 

Early Teenage Years

 

As Rob breezed through his elementary years, he fell in love with one sport above the others - hockey. As any good Canadian kid from Toronto would do, he became a die hard Maple Leafs fan. Though most his life would be cheering for a team seemingly stuck in neutral Rob still enjoyed going out to watch his team play. 

 

Rob spent countless hours playing the sport he loved. Whether playing in pee wee leagues or just at home on the driveway, if there was spare time, this is what he was doing.  

 

In 2013, Sam and Jacky moved across the city. Sam had excelled in his role as accountant and had started his own accounting firm. As it grew, the Mattalex family became a wealthy group. This is why in 2013, Sam and Jacky decided to build their dream home.  

 

Off to a new school, Notre Dame High, Rob quickly made new friends. Again, he shot to the top of his class, both academically and athletically.  It was here where he started to realize his extra-ordinary athletic talents.  His father hired him a personal trainer at the age of 14.

 

High School Years

 

As Rob spent time with the personal trainer, his first year of high school didn’t quite go as planned. His high school was stacked with talent at the goaltending position. He was their third string goaltender! Unsatisfied, Sam Mattalex told Rob’s trainer, Mike Scots, that he needed to do something to get Rob on that ice. They only had two options: New school or new position. The search for a new school started but Rob had a comfort level at Notre Dame. He decided to try out as a forward. There were hiccups at first but potential was clearly there.  Rob received plenty of ice time that year and went on to lead the team in scoring! 

 

The rest of Rob’s high school years were spent leading his team on the ice, ultimately climaxing with winning the league and being voted Most Outstanding Hockey Player by his peers.  Rob’s mind was made up that he was going to go for a career in hockey since that was clearly where his talents were. 

 

Rob graduated high school with high honours for his tremendous academic achievements.  Now he faced a big decision as the next chapter of his life lay before him.  he knew he was going to pursue hockey and yet so many questions still were unanswered!  Where would he play? Should he go the college route? He had been approached already with some scholarship programs that he could choose down in the states.  he wanted to chase an accounting degree as well so the college route made some sense to him.  Then there was the VHL route he could go.  The prestige of the league was really gaining traction.  The competitiveness of the league was appealing.  It would be more difficult finishing his degree this way but he could make it work.  So many options were out there but these were the one two he was really considering.

 

The Decision

 

Rob and his family decided to take a vacation first with high school being finished before they would choose a career route for Rob.  Sam and Jacky owned a time share down in Florida so off they went.  The two weeks they spent down there were definitely relaxing.  They spent much time in the condo pool, relaxing on the beautiful beaches, exploring the beautiful areas in St Petersburg.  The Friday before they were to return home, Sam took Rob deep sea fishing.  They spent the sunny day pulling in some big groupers and a few other fish.  Overall, it had been a successful trip away from the real world.

 

Though he was relaxing, his decision was still on his mind.  As the two weeks went on, he spent some time researching the VHL some more, leaning on his dad for some good advice.  By the end, his mind was made up that he would pursue the VHL.  The VHLM draft was coming up soon and he had to prepare for it.  Would he even get drafted? Surely some scouts had been scouting him but was that enough for them to see what they liked? He sure hoped so.

 

As the draft neared, Rob had a hopeful confidence about being drafted.  He tried not to think too much about it in the weeks and days leading up to it and time flew by.  The draft was just around the corner! On draft night, Rob had some friends join him and his family to hopefully celebrate with him.  Though the night got nervous towards the end, the celebrations began as soon as he was selected by the Halifax 21st with the 84th overall selection.  Now it was time to get to work.

 

And Now

 

Currently, Rob is getting ready for his first season with the Halifax 21st who have been very welcoming to the youngster in the early days with the team. Rob has been accepted into the University of Toronto to study for accountant like his father. He plans to finish his schooling even as he begins pursuing his career in hockey.

 

1171 words

Edited November 8, 2019 by VanCanWin
Was incomplete.

[Greg_Di 933]

Review: The font is big on desktop format making it hard to read. I also only see 732 words, Biographies should be 1000+, I would also throw in some pictures. The biography itself is well written. Maybe add some more history as to what happened after high school and how he decided on the VHL over some of the other leagues? Looking forward to the update! Well done!

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

@VanCanWin

As Greg said, Biographies are supposed to be 1000 words to be worth 10 TPE. This is only a little over 700, so you'd only get 7 TPE for this. You might as well add to it to get up to 1000, considering Bios are a once per career thing. Might as well do it right.

 

Also, as he said as well, please lower the font size. It's really big on desktop.

[VanCanWin 180]

Thanks for the review guys! I will revise

[Big Mac 310]

Review: I’m not sure if it’s the font or something, but like something feels awkward or wrong. Good job on extending the bio to 1000+ words. It might’ve been more interesting, if maybe there was more information on Early to Teenage Life. I can’t really hate on this. You definitely did not disappoint me. Overall good job, and it was nice that you fooled the advice of fellow reviewers.