Zachary Okabe has been selected to play in the prestigious Grand Prairie Storm ice hockey team in Canada.
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The selection in the Storm team comes after he was the first Australian to be drafted into the Western Hockey League in 2016.
Okabe has a strong connection to the area with his mum Maree born and bred in Ararat, where Zachary’s grandparents still live.
Okabe will play in the senior team with teammates aged up to 22 with the youngest being 19, apart from the talented junior who is just 16.
The 16-year-old said it was a long process to be selected in the Alberta Hockey League team.
“We have been talking to them for a while now, started talking mid last-season and then they finally came down and talked to us and from there I was expecting to get selected,” he said.
“It is just a great feeling that the junior A levels have been interested in me.
“Not knowing I could do this coming from Australia, so it is great.”
Okabe said he has set goals to achieve during the upcoming season at the new club.
“For my first year, I want to try and impact the team as much as I can,” he said.
“Being 16, I am one of the youngest in the league so it is going to be a lot different to last year but I am just hoping to provide a lot of offence on the ice for the team and play my role.”
It is a big step up for Okabe after he played for Shawnigan Lake School last season.
He said he is looking forward to the challenges ahead in the new league.
“I was in a school league last year and now I am going to be playing against men, so it is a different game,” he said.
“It is a lot faster and more physical with more skilled required, so it will take to adjust to that.
“I am not a big physical player, I am a bit shorter and more of an offensive player, utilising my decision making but hoping to improve my skating style as well while playing at the Storm.”
The right-handed player is aiming to become just the second Australian to be selected in the National Hockey League.
He said the selection was another step to tick off on his way to getting his chance.
“This is definitely preparing me for the higher levels,” he said.
“There is a lot of travel involved and as you grow up while playing at a higher standard as well. He will join his team for preseason camp starts on August 25.
