Jan. 5, 2005

Notre Dame sophomore Noah Babin is one of just two players from the state of Florida playing Division I collegiate hockey. A native of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Babin enrolled at Notre Dame after playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program and the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League. To read Babin's journey from Florida to Notre Dame, read "Hockey in the Sunshine State."

Hockey in the Sunshine State

By Noah Babin

As a kid growing up in Florida, it's safe to say that I really got started playing hockey by accident. When I was eight or nine years old, my parents bought me a hockey stick and a puck that I started playing with on the street in front of my house. My friends and I would play on the street; for me, the game just evolved from there.

When I started playing, there wasn't a great deal of interest in the game in Florida, but it continues to grow. The talent level there now is still in the early stages but more and more people are starting to play the game and get interested in it.

The first step for me in developing my game was roller hockey. That's where I started to refine my skills. I used to skate on the street, practicing my stick handling, my shooting and skating. That's where I really learned the game. I guess I owe my ice hockey career to roller hockey.

When my parents saw that my friends and I had an interest in hockey, they started a roller hockey league and that got us really involved in the game.

A friend of the family opened an ice rink about a mile from my home in Florida called Planet Ice. I pretty much lived at the rink. Every single day, I was there playing hockey. I was a real rink rat.

Through a series of luck and just being in the right place at the right time, my hockey career continued to develop. I made the Florida Select team and that improved the level of play and the competition that I played against.

When I was 14, my team played in a Select Tournament in Michigan. Since we were from Florida, we weren't as good as most of the teams in the tournament; we got knocked out pretty quickly.

"My ideal place to live would be somewhere where you can play hockey and go surfing on the same day. I guess you can take the boy out of Florida, but never Florida out of the boy." --Noah Babin

Since we had another day in Michigan, a friend of my family knew of what we thought was an open skate, a place where we could skate with some kids from the north and get a better idea of how far we had to go to reach their skill level.

After we were done skating, two coaches from the Compuware Ambassadors asked me if I would be interested in playing for them. I was really shocked that they thought that I could play at that level.

I talked it over with my mom and dad and, luckily enough, they were able to make it happen. My mother and I ended up moving away from Florida for two years while I played hockey in Michigan.

I really can't say enough about my parents and what they've done to allow me to play hockey. Neither my mom nor dad was a hockey fan. My dad was into basketball and really wanted me to play that. I think at first, they were taken aback by my interest in the game. They are unbelievable parents and have always supported me in anything that I've wanted to do.

When they saw how much I was into hockey, they jumped right in too. Now they are unbelievable hockey fans. My family is a real hockey family. My older sister, Erica, played hockey at Boston University. My dad just loves; he reads about hockey, he's coached, and he just can't get enough of the game. They seem to enjoy where hockey has taken me over the last few years.

Moving to the north was a tough adjustment for me being from Florida. I would say that it was one of the biggest cultural shocks that I've ever had. I remember going to school the first day and I was dressed like I would at home. The other kids looked at me like I was some punk kid, but I got used to it.

I was big into skateboarding back then and skateboarded all the time. I had the nice skateboard shirt and my pants sagged. They really gave me a lot of grief. I guess skateboarding and surfing don't go too well with hockey.

I also got involved in the hockey culture, something that we didn't have in Florida. I realized how important hockey was to so many people in Michigan.

I played one year at Compuware and then another year with Little Caesar's. From there, I tried out for the USA National Team Development Program and made it with the Under-17 team. I think that it was at that point that I began to realize that I could play hockey at the highest level.

My two years with the U.S. team were my best two years of hockey so far. We had a tight-knit team that really came together. We won two gold medals at the Under-17 and Under-18 World Championships, which was a great thrill for me. That group of players had a great chemistry. It really helped my confidence and development.

I remember thinking in my first year with the US NTDP here that if I really applied myself and get good grades in school that hockey could really take me someplace. That attitude has really worked out well for me and I'll just keep on doing what got me here.

After two years with the Developmental Team, I played for a year in the USHL with Green Bay where I played alongside Wes O'Neill and Dan VeNard before coming to Notre Dame.

Who knows where I will go from here, but I really have no complaints. I guess everyone's goal is to make the National Hockey League, but I am realistic too and I realize that very few players actually get that far. That's why playing at a place like Notre Dame gives you the best of both worlds - hockey at the highest level and a great education too. I'll just keep working hard and see what happens.

As far as staying in the north - don't worry - that's not going to happen. I hate the cold and I can't wait to get back to Florida at Christmas break and get out to the beach.