In terms of constant intensity, few sports stand skate-to-skate with hockey. With its barrage of body checks, flying pucks and swinging sticks, focus and balance is of extreme importance. If you are caught daydreaming, you would be lucky to only end up with an earful from your coach and not a mouthful of ice.
Patrick Schule, 16, a forward on the St. Francis Prep Terriers, has all of his own teeth. He has never broken a bone and has taken his fair share of on-ice hits with minimal physical damage. His cool-as-ice personality is not jarred by competition or a heavy workload; neither on the rink or in the classroom.
“I have never really had a problem getting my work done,” said Schule, a multi-sport athlete with a 91 average. “Sometimes I have to work late on the nights I have practice, but I don’t mind as long as the work gets done.”
Aside from playing hockey with St. Francis, Schule also plays baseball and had played football and basketball in his freshman year. As if that was not enough, he also plays travel hockey with the Long Island Gulls of the Atlantic Youth Hockey League (AYHL).
The travel league gives Schule the chance to see other cities; something that he is interested in expanding as he grows up. But mostly, Schule doubles up in hockey because he craves the competition.
“It is all about the intensity of competition in hockey, he said. “We have some heated rivalries.”
One of those heated rivalries has been known to scream louder than a 90-mile-per-hour slap shot. St. Francis Prep’s long-standing rivalry with Holy Cross High School is fueled mostly by the schools’ football teams, but plenty of animosity has spilled onto the ice.
“We have played some intense games against them,” recalls Schule. “Last year we played them in the semifinals and we needed to win in order to keep going in the playoffs.”
The Terriers lost that best-of-three series to Cross, the eventual ‘B’ division champions. It was a loss that the team had a hard time leaving on the ice, and one that Schule remembers vividly.
“You play the game and go through the season to make the playoffs and win,” he said. “It was terrible when we lost to them. You want to keep playing, but the season is over. It was awful.”
Schule developed his taste for winning at an early age. He started playing roller hockey at the age of four and moved up to ice hockey at 11. He owes much of his love for the game to his brother Robert, whom he also credits with making him a Rangers fan. This hockey obsession is something that he plans to stick with through college, and he does not rule out taking his talents to the absolute top tier of the sport, the National Hockey League (NHL).
“If I can take it that far, it is definitely something I would consider,” he said. “But that is one long road.”
For now, Schule is content with being a Terrier, playing roller hockey in parking lots with his friends and acing math, his favorite class.
“I just find algebra very easy. A lot of people say they do not get it, but when it is taught well, it is easy to understand,” he said, adding, “But I would not do it for fun.”
Sal Fischetti, athletic director at St. Francis, said that success in sports and in academics does not come easily to Schule. He said that while Schule has great athletic ability and obvious school smarts, he still puts in the effort to excel.
“He is a really balanced kid and that is what we are looking for,” said Fischetti. “Discipline and organization is critical, and he has got both. I think sports provide a structure for him and that helps him do well with academics.”
Schule does not believe that there is an exact science to success in athletics or academics, at least not for him. He just hits the ice, and the books, with focus, determination and a strong belief in his own abilities.
“I really can’t explain how to be successful or how to excel in sports and school at the same time,” he said. “I just do it.”
PHOTO CAPTION:
Photo Courtesy of St. Francis Preparatory School
Patrick Schule has a shot at greatness both on the ice and in the classroom.
