Will Coultrip (‘23) is a four-year member of the Amador Hockey Club and has gotten a pretty good feel of what the team experience is like. Having lettered in three sports at Amador (football, lacrosse, and hockey), Will has seen almost all there is to see in high school athletics.

Growing up surrounded by the sport in Boston, Coultrip started his ice hockey journey with his older brother Ryan as a role model. As both the president of the Hockey Club and captain of the Amadors hockey team, Coultrip has applied many leadership skills with the other players. 

“Will is a great captain. He’s really good about motivating the team,” said Preston Elliot (‘24), a left-winger on the team.

Being amicable with the other players is one thing that teammates rely on Coultrip for. The team feels that they’ll be treated as equals, no matter their age, gender, or skill differences.

“Sometimes you see depictions of captains or leaders being really snobby and acting way above their teammates, but with Will, that’s not the case at all,” said Claire Kunich (‘26), a right-winger on the team.

Players with older siblings see the many differences between pre-covid hockey seasons and post-covid seasons. Having gotten some experience from pre-covid seasons, Coultrip can give the other players a taste of what it was like to play before the drastic change.

“Having Will on the team is great because he got a feel for the team before we had the stay-in-home order and a lot of people on the team didn’t get to experience what high school hockey was pre-covid,” said Cora Kerton (‘24), a right-winger on the hockey team.

The EBAL hockey league runs for 6 weeks, so training and playing during the off-season is crucial. 

“You have to do a lot of work on your own off the ice. Just putting in a lot of work by yourself is really important,” said Coultrip.

A notable part of ice hockey is the skating. Many who have attempted it know it’s not easy, but refining and improving it is a whole new beast to tame. Knowing this, Coultrip puts in a considerable amount of time and effort to hone this skill.

“I just like to go out and work on skating drills, you know, work on certain skills. Things like my edge work, getting backward, stuff like that,” said Coultrip.

Having played multiple varsity sports for Amador, Coultrip has had to compromise, often putting one sport above the other.

“Luckily the sports I play don’t overlap seasons that much, but when they do I kind of have to just pick one to prioritize,” said Coultrip. 

Like many other students, Coultrip has faced the hardships of being a student-athlete. Sacrificing time that could otherwise be spent studying, resting, or even with friends.

“It gets hard because, for most of my [high school career], I’ve got a sport going for nearly the entire year,” said Coultrip.