The wing from Down Under - Berocka Sundqvist [2/2]

[Berocka 2,205]

Name: Berocka Sundqvist

Age: 21

Position:  Left Wing

Height: 6'3''

Weight: 200 lbs

Date of Birth: 23^rd November 1997

Place of Birth: Queensland, Australia

Nationality: Australian

 

Family Life

Berocka was born and spent his childhood in Queensland, Australia. He was raised by his parents Oliver and Gemma, he was an only child and was always a little bit spoilt throughout his childhood.

 

Discovery of Ice Hockey

As he was born in a place that is rather hot and never sees snow Berocka knew nothing of the wonderful sport of Ice Hockey. Instead spent his time playing Cricket and Australian Rules Football. He was quite good at both sports but never a stand out, he continued along with this until he was aged nine and his life would be changed forever. Berocka was invited to his friend’s birthday party at an ice-skating rink, unexpectedly he had an extremely fun time trying to get the hang of skating with his friends. After the two hours of playing around they sat down for the birthday cake. Whilst the cake cutting was happening an ice hockey team took to the ice to start practising. The speed and grace of the players skating around was absolutely captivating to young Berocka, this started his interest in the sport.  Later that month Berocka went on a family holiday to visit his grandparents Hugo and Helga off in Sweden. Whilst telling his Grandfather about this Berocka found out that his Grandfather was once quite good at ice hockey himself. With Hugo finding out about Berocka’s interest it made him extremely happy as his son Oliver (Berocka’s Dad) never showed an interest in the sport. Hugo took Berocka to the rink every day for the month to teach him to skate and to start using a stick. After a wonderful month where Berocka surprisingly learnt quite quickly the basics of the sport, on the last day Hugo gifted Berocka his very own hockey stick, this made Berocka’s day and couldn’t wait to get back home.

 

                                         (Berocka with his Grandfather)

 

Early Hockey Career

Upon returning home Berocka went and signed up at the local skating rink as part of the Under 10’s Brisbane Blitz Ice hockey team. After the first season Berocka had picked up the game quite well, winning a couple of awards. This was due to his love for the game, this led to him reading every ice hockey book in the local library multiple times no matter if it was fiction or non-fiction. When he wasn’t reading books about the game he was reading anything he could find on the slow internet they had at home. By the age of 13 he had improved that much he was now playing two age groups up from his age. By playing with kids older than him it just sped up his learning curve not only because the competition was more intense, but he couldn’t stand being any less than the best.

 

                                                           (Berocka's early training days)

 

School Life

During this time Berocka like most children would spend his hours of 8am – 3pm inside school which he was excelling at, with a mind for numbers he did quite well at Maths and quite the sportsman he found Physical Education extremely easy. He did slightly above average in his remaining subjects. After school hours would usually see Berocka outside playing backyard cricket or passing around a footy with friends from school. Due to the unpopularity of Ice Hockey in Australia he never really played this with his school friends. His practice came in the mornings before school, he would catch a lift with his Mum Gemma to the rink and put in an hour of practice every morning with the help of his coach Peter. Peter was middle aged man from Canada who had spent his whole life playing hockey and after a bad knee injury spent his time coaching the sport that he fell in love with. Berocka most looked forward to Thursday afternoons when he would go for training with the rest of his team. He would always put in 100% at training and aimed to learn as much as he could from each of his team mates to become the best he could be.

 

Entry to University

This continued until High School Graduation, at the age of 17 he graduated with a score good enough to get him in to any university he could choose to complete his business degree. Before he had the chance to get accepted into a university though, disaster hit the family his Grandmother Helga had passed away, the family packed up their bags and went over to Sweden for the Funeral and to support his grandfather. During this time, Berocka discovered that he could be eligible for a University Scholarship if he could get through the trial process as a Hockey Player at the Gothenburg University of Business or as it is known locally as GUB. Berocka jumped at the chance as there would be no possibility of this back in Australia. Berocka went to the tryouts and was amazed at the calibre of the players, he thrived under pressure and exceeded everyone’s expectations that the young Australian could compete with Sweden’s best.

 

University Life

University was a bit of a struggle at first with Berocka being in a country he didn’t know much about as well as sometimes there was a language barrier. Berocka put all his effort into getting his degree whilst trying to stay the best Hockey player he could be. In the first year of University Berocka managed to make his way up to the first line of the GUB team and set the record for the most amount of points for a rookie. In the following years he was no less successful and continued with good marks and breaking records on the ice. Unfortunately for Berocka he had not been contacted by any other Hockey teams and he was reaching Graduation. Finally, after three long and hard years he reached Graduation, with his most successful year in his last year not only did the GUB hockey team win the championship for the year but Berocka ended in the top 10% of his graduating class.

 

            (Berocka in the championship final in his 3rd year of University)

 

Life After Schooling

Berocka was very happy with how everything in University turned out, except that his Hockey career appeared to have come to an end, he was now 21 and hadn’t been in contact with any professional teams. So Berocka started the job hunt as he now had a bachelor’s degree, after a month of searching he finally found his dream job, though it was not one he had really applied for. It was a contract offer from the Mississauga Hounds, he took absolutely no time to accept the offer. He packed his bags and off he was to Mississauga, Canada. This is where his story truly begins…

 

(Mississauga Hounds Logo)

 

[leafssteen 50]

Review:

 

I enjoyed how you talked about how he came from a place where hockey is not a big deal! Lots of good information on the life of Berocka Sundqvist and the pictures were a great addition. Best of luck with your career! 

[fonziGG 1,065]

Review:

 

I loved how it was obscure to play hockey for him. Lots of pictures which animated your bio. Great set up as well!