Sophomore Robert Zito has a very busy life.  Along with school, Zito plays for the Junior Silvertips hockey team. He moved here from Utah just for this opportunity. He rarely sees his family, in fact, he has seen them once in the past five months. He misses his family.  “I miss having someone to be myself around. Living with another family makes me feel like I have to live up to special expectations,” he said. He misses Utah the most for the blue skies, “it’s always grey over here,” he said

Zito enjoys the position of being a goalie for his team. His intent for each is game is to get a shut-out, which is to prevent the other team from scoring any points. Being a goalie can be very stressful. “If I mess up,it goes on a huge scoreboard for everyone to see,” he said.

Zito is going back to Utah this April to train all summer and then returning to try out for the Silvertips organization as part of the regular division. “There are better opportunities up here, and it’s easier to live here and see my team more,” he said.

Making the regular Silvertips semi-professional team is one of his missions. One of the perks of making the team is that the players are paid. The next level up is the National Hockey League.

His best game he has played all year was against the Langley Eagles, a shut-out for Zito. “I had some amazing saves, and some saves that I probably shouldn’t have saved. It was unreal,” Zito said.

Zito and his team just got back from a tournament in Michigan. Zito said this trip as to be one of the worst tournaments they have ever had. “We just didn’t show up to play,” he said. They played some top ranked national teams.  “One of the teams had five kids that were already talking to NHL teams, which is insane,” Zito said.

Zito spends most of his time on ice at the Xfinity Arena. After school every day his practice starts at 3:00, and goes until 5:00. He then lifts weights and trains for about two and a half hours. Practices can be very difficult, “yesterday at practice we got skated to the point where I almost passed out, but my love for the game gets me through it,” he said. After his practice, he gets home at 10pm eats, and completes his homework.

“Hockey is very time consuming, but in the end it is all worth it because I love to play, and I love my team,” Zito said.