10 • JUNE 4 , 2008 • COMMUNITY NEWS - WEST

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KARA BERTRANDEvery young hockey player wishes to play in the NHL one day and for

Ontario players, the OHL is the first big step. For Forest Heights resident,15-year-old Tanner Pearson, thedream is inches away. At the begin-ning of May, he was drafted by theBarrie Colts. The draft was postedonline and players and parents acrossOntario waited anxiously to see theirname on the screen.“The day was pretty long, just sitting

there waiting for my name to comeup,” Pearson said. “I got pretty anx-ious and then it came up and thephone wouldn’t stop ringing.” He saidhe didn’t even see his name in the firstplace and was scared by his parents’reaction on a different computer.Pearson’s OHL dreams were in jeop-

ardy this year after breaking his wristright before playoffs on his MinorMidget AAA team, the KitchenerJunior Rangers.

“I think the broken wrist was a con-cern of his; would it affect his draftyear or not,” said Pearson’s mother,Kim. “So when he got the letter thathe was on the draft list, I think he wasvery happy just to be sure that he wasthat far.”

Pearson started playing organizedhockey at the age of four and his firstmemories of playing were from thetime he was six.

“I played a year up and I was in atournament in New Hamburg and Iwas sick with pneumonia,” he said. “Ididn’t want to stay home, I wanted to play.”

“He was fighting us tooth and nail,” said Kim. She and Pearson’s father, Tim, said he never had to be forced to play, and

always put 110 per cent into every game and practice.“He’s been fortunate enough throughout his hockey here in Kitchener to

be called up quite often to play with the older kids, and it’s something thatcontinued and helped his game, also pushed him a bit harder,” she said.

Pearson wasn’t the only player from his team who was drafted. His team-mate, Derek Schoenmakers, was drafted to the St. Michaels Majors.

“Seeing one of Tanner’s team-mates that he’s played hockey with inKitchener for nine years also be selected, I thought was great,” said Tim.

“We counted up this morning andthere were 16 kids that Tanner’s beenon a team with throughout his timeplaying AAA hockey that were select-ed in the draft.”

Both boys will join their teams forrookie camp, from which up to fourplayers from their age group will bechosen to play with the team nextyear. Both boys were chosen in the14th round of picks. Schoenmakerswas drafted about 5 minutes afterPearson. The Schoenmakers’ powerwent out during the draft and they hadno way of knowing the results. Theywere literally in the dark until a fami-ly friend called to tell Derek he waspicked. The two friends text messagedback and forth when each was draftedand, as Derek said, “it was a uniqueway to find out” about his draft.

Pearson said his father has beeninstrumental in his hockey journey. “He always made me push hard to be

the best player I can be,” he said. “Healways says I’m going to the gym,working on my shot. Sometimes Icomplain but it’s all for the better.”

The Pearsons said they have beenfortunate to have made so many con-nections and friends within the hock-ey community and they look forwardto watching Tanner’s friends progressin their hockey careers.

It’s clear just how proud his parents are of Tanner.“It’s been his dream, so we’re just really excited for him,” said Kim. “It’s

the next level he’s been working towards. I think what’s gotten him thisfar is his passion for the game.”

* * *Kara Bertrand is a journalism student from Humber College. She is writ-ing for The Community News Kitchener this summer.

Forest Heights studentdrafted by Barrie Colts

TANNER PE ARSON

Tanner Pearson was drafted by the Barrie Colts of the Ontario HockeyLeague this spring. He will attend a rookie camp to find out if he willplay with the team next season. Photo by Kara Bertrand