Biography: Dylan Doyle "Born to Compete" [2/2]

[zepheter 586]

 

Dylan Doyle

Age 19

Tampa, Florida

 

Born to Compete

 

 

Pre-Hockey

 

Doyle was born into a fairly well off family, but that didn’t necessarily mean his path would be easy. Actually, it was quite the opposite. Nineteen years ago, Dylan Doyle and his identical twin brother Shane were born. The odds were already against them, as they were barely even half the size of the average baby at birth, weighing just four pounds each. Due to their lack of physical development, they were put into intensive care immediately, and underwent treatment for jaundice, a disease that can decelerate mental development and cause deafness or cerebral palsy. Because of their poor condition, they were forced to fight for their lives throughout the next month in the hospital. Unfortunately, for the twins, it was only the beginning of their long and hard-fought battle against great odds. Everything was a competition for the brothers, they even fought for nutrients and space within their mother’s womb before they were conceived. Throughout the rest of their infancy they would fight for attention, when they were toddlers they would fight for toys, and all through their adolescence they would work their hardest to best one another in the classroom and in sports. They were best friends, but hated each other. Due to their parents receiving pay raises, they would change schools multiple times, making it difficult to fit in and make new friends, but they had each other. That was sufficient enough for the time being.

 

 

 

 

High School

 

Leading into high school, Dylan had played just about every major sport in North America, including: football, baseball, soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, but this time he wanted something different. He follows most sports fairly well, but had a passion for hockey. Unlike Dylan, Shane never really liked hockey, but followed it because Dylan would have it on television every day. Hockey wasn’t popular in the Tampa Bay Area at the time, and the closest rink was around an hour away, so it didn’t seem ideal to make the commitment to a sport he couldn’t fully commit to. That all changed when his parents moved across the street from the ice rink. This changed their lives for the better. Dylan and his brother practically lived on the ice that summer, taking advantage of every opportunity to acquaint themselves to the game. A month passed, and they were becoming pretty good for the amount of time they’d been practicing. People were noticing, including coaches at Jesuit High School, a nearby private school in Tampa. The twins hadn’t enrolled into a school yet, making this the obvious choice for where they would be in the fall. Although the impression they made on the coaches was notable, it wasn’t quite enough to earn a scholarship of any sort just yet. The freshman team didn’t require a tryout before the practices began in late August. Every day was a dogfight for them, as they were not nearly as experienced as the other players on the team who had been in hockey for years already. This trend continued throughout their entire freshman season, and forced them to be benched every game. It may have seemed to be a wasted season, but it was used to give them time to work on both the fundamentals of the game and their weight. During their sophomore year, they began to take major strides on the junior varsity team, and were finally fitting in and adjusting to the physicality despite their lack of size. They began the season on the fourth line, having beat out half a dozen other kids trying out to play winger. A few games in, Dylan found himself on a hot streak, and was moved up to the third line, where he remained for the rest of the season until his team just missed the playoffs. While Dylan moved on to play for the varsity team his junior year, Shane didn’t make the cut, and was forced to stay down on junior varsity and decided he would stop playing after the season had ended. It was a breakout year for Dylan. Midway through the season, he was moved up to the first line where he had exceptional chemistry with his line mates. Although the first line was making a major impact each game, the team was still young, and didn’t have enough experience to go all the way. They ended up falling in overtime of the quarterfinal. Doyle earned recognition statewide for his extraordinary progress, and received the most improved and most underrated player rewards within his conference. These accolades boosted his confidence going into his senior season, where he put up record point totals in both his conference and at his school, while also leading the league in points by a comfortable margin. Going into the playoffs, they had the best record in their conference, and received a first round bye. Each game Dylan would rise to the occasion, averaging nearly three points throughout the playoffs and destroying every team in their path. They won the State Championship, and Doyle was voted the undisputed Playoff and League MVP. During his academic career, he was able to sustain a 3.8 GPA while also taking honors classes all four years.

 

 

 

 

Professional

 

At this point, Doyle was eighteen had his sights set on the VHL. Instead of playing juniors or college hockey, he decided to take a gap year to address his size and fine-tune his skills. By the time the VHLM season was about three quarters of the way through, Doyle had worked with some of the best coaches in the United States to prepare him for professional hockey. Doyle finally received his chance to prove himself in the league when he signed with the rebuilding Philadelphia Reapers late into the season. Although he didn’t put up stellar numbers by any means, he showed that he can fight through adversity and at times lead by example. When the off-season began, Doyle spent a lot of time with veteran hockey minds to increase his knowledge of the game. After training all summer it was time for the Season 66 VHLM and VHL drafts to commence. As projected, Doyle would go in the late 30’s at 38th overall to the Yukon Rush, but something was wrong. Doyle didn’t feel at home in Yukon, and wanted to go back to Philadelphia where he had promised to deliver them the Founder’s Cup. Shortly before VHL Draft, he was traded from Yukon to Philly for a player and a 3rd round pick. It was also expected that he would go in the 50’s of the VHL Draft when he went 52nd overall to join his current teammate and Captain John Frostbeard in the Calgary Wrangler’s system. The rest of his story is yet to unfold as he and his team prepare for a Founder’s Cup run in the VHLM this season.

 

                                                                                                                                   

 

 

Post-Hockey

 

Although we all expect Doyle to have a long, fantastic professional career. It will end one day. He once said in an interview that when his hockey career is over he wishes to donate to various hospitals throughout the U.S. to pay for researching methods of supporting infants in intensive care, so that they won’t have to go through the same trouble that he did when he was born. When asked about his career plans after professional hockey, he suggested becoming an analyst for Victory Sports News. 

 

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Word count w/out title & paragraph subjects: 1,224 

Word count w/ title & paragraph subjects: 1,238 

 

Note: I apologize if this ends up being boring, repetitive, jumpy, etc. I tried to take as much of my unique life story as I could and add a twist to make it a bit more credible and less personal. I hope you enjoy it, as I spent quite a bit of time researching what my brother and I went through when we were born and what we have become today. 

For those wondering... I didn't use any of my own personal information. Thanks for looking after me.

Edited May 15, 2019 by zepheter
Mistakes

[leafssteen 50]

Review: I feel is was well written and provided valuable information on his life. I like how you added that at 18 he decided to work towards a VHL career and liked that you added in information on his VHLM career. Overall great job and best of luck with your career!

[fonziGG 1,068]

Review:

 

I liked how you organized this bio. Also the sad story in the beginning was fantastic. Also your note at the bottom was not necessary, it was not repetitive. Loved it.