The Belgian Beauty is Hungry for VHL Chance

[SweatyBeaver 132]

By Marc Slavin, The Leuven Observer.

 

Leuven, Belgium-Mila and Nicolas Stallion knew that their son Gregg was different from the rest of their children. The family of 5 grew up on a small farm outside of Leuven and while Gregg's two older brothers continued in the family tradition of farming, Gregg was different.

 

Nicolas Stallion often finds himself recalling the start of Gregg's love for hockey; "When he was young he was fascinated with the sport of hockey, none of our other sons were interested in the sport but Gregg was really passionate in playing this sport so I found a team in the city of other kids his age and we started to help Gregg practice and get into the sport." For Gregg this was the start of a new trajectory that would completely overtake his life as he grew up in rural Belgium.

 

In front of the local media before his last game in Leuven, Gregg was choked up in his words "My parents were so supportive of me and really did their best to help me achieve this crazy goal I had. My Dad would drive me into the city everyday so I could practice with other kids, my coaches were so supportive and I really am thankful for these people that believed in me. My mom and my brothers never made fun of me or anything for my wild dream."  This was Gregg's last game in front of his local team and nearly all in attendance would give him a standing ovation as he netted the game winning goal in overtime.

 

"Gregg is going to go far" Coach Louis Branc told reporters. "I am so proud of his development and I believe he will have great success on the world scale." Though the team eventually fell short of the championship coach Branc would not stop singing the praises of his young star player. "Gregg put it all on the line and ultimately we lost to the better team in Brussels, it was not Gregg's fault at all, he was the one who lead us and kept us in the series."

 

Gregg is now looking to the VHL as his goal and the next step of his already illustrious young career. "I obviously have to put in a lot of work but I am hungry and motivated to make it in the big leagues. I would watch these players and games as a kid and they inspired me to play the game of hockey and I hope that there are kids who could watch me and get inspired to play this amazing game." Gregg has risen to world wide prominence and has some buzz from audiences in bigger hockey markets, to them Gregg is 'The Belgian Beauty.' This moniker began as his highlights went viral on YouTube and were featured on many popular sports networks. "I started getting messages from fans around the world telling me that they thought I was a really good player and that the wanted to be like me." Gregg said beaming with his trademark infectious smile.

 

Many scouts are saying that the sky is the limit for Leuven's own Belgian Beauty and for Nicolas and Mila they cannot believe that their sons crazy dream is now a very real possibility. "No matter what happens we are so proud of him." An emotional Mila told reporters "To the world he is the Belgian Beauty but to us he's our son and we will always be his biggest fans."

 

585 Words

Using PT for Mar. 22-28.

 

(Please give feedback so I can learn and figure out how to do all this well, thanks)