Lo/Cal's Hayes Wins WMHSH Blog Scholarship

In a race that was as tightly contested as last season's OK Conference championships, Lowell's Ken Hayes has earned the first annual West Michigan High School Hockey Blog Scholarship. Hayes, a forward for the Lowell-Caledonia co-op team that won OK Tier 3 last season, was one of 23 seniors from around West Michigan that applied for the $1,000 scholarship.

It's kind of an understatement to say the competition was tough. The average GPA of all applicants was a 3.7 and the number of extra-curriculars (including volunteer work) that players participated in truly stunned me and the other people who helped me review the applications. For his part, Hayes carried a 4.2 (adjusted) grade point average, was a member of the National Honor Society and spent a fair amount of time volunteering as a math tutor, a mentor for elementary school students, in his church, at school, and as a student athletic trainer.

In addition to hockey, Hayes also ran cross country and played varsity baseball for two seasons. He was Academic All-State in both baseball and hockey. (Ironic note: when the Blogger posted the Academic All State list on the site, I overlooked Hayes' name -- a fact that many readers quickly noted in the comments). Hayes played all four years for Lo-Cal, an experience that had its downs and ups, especially last year. While he didn't score as many goals as his linemates, Justin Story and Drake Chittenden, he says playing with them and, frankly, all of his teammates last season was the highlight of his hockey career, which started at age 9 over at GRAHA. He also played for two years in the now-defunct Grizzlies travel program.

"Last season was the most fun I've ever had playing hockey," he told me. "With the combined schools, you could have had conflict because we're rivals in all the other sports. As teammates, we just all got along and had a great time. For me, personally, it was so great to have a winning record and do as well as we did in the playoffs after the 5 and 8 win seasons during my first few years on the team."

His coach, Mike Ballard, doesn't mince words in praising his four-year player: "He's a whiz kid [academically] and just a very well-rounded kid. On our team last year, he was really more of a role player, and he is the kind of kid who would do anything and everything you'd ask him to. At our banquet I said that if I could coach a team of AAA kids with attitude or a team of Ken Hayes-type players, I'd choose the latter because I'd get more out of the team."

Hayes plans to attend Central Michigan University next year, where he'll study pre-med. He hopes to become a surgeon some day. He says he'll probably play in a local men's league in Mt. Pleasant next year, and hopes to stay involved in the game, including helping out with the Lo/Cal program in the future.

Congrats to Ken, and to all the applicants. I was surprised by the number of applicants this first year and even more surprised by the quality of the applications. The essays, in particular, were great because they were well-written and showed how much hockey has positively impacted your lives outside the rink. I hope you all carry those lessons with you throughout your lives. Thanks for taking the time to apply for the scholarship, and be sure to check your mail in the coming weeks.

Finally, to all those folks who called, emailed and talked to me about making the scholarship an annual thing...all I can say is: "Let's do it." The funds this year came out of my pocket. If you'd like to contribute your "time, talents or treasures" in the future, then get in touch with me and let's discuss. The email is: brian.h.edwards@gmail.com.