Grayson Pohlman

Class:
Freshman
Hometown:
Long Valley, N.J.

10-yer old Grayson Pohlman, a Long Valley, N.J. native is the final recruit for Ben Syer's team and he joins the Tigers via Team IMPACT, a national organization that matches children facing serious illness and disability with college sports teams, creating a long-term, life-changing experience for everyone involved.

A fifth-grader, Grayson was born with a heart condition that required four open-heart surgeries to this point.

Undaunted by his condition, Grayson has been active in karate throughout his life. Now, inspired by his connection with Princeton Hockey, he has started skating lessons this year and his hard work has already paid off with a thrilling goal to close out the Baker Bash in October.

“Grayson is the type of kid who immediately has made an impact on all of us as his energy is infectious,” said Joshua Karnish. “His charisma is pretty special where he’s already become an instrumental piece of our team in such a short amount of time. We couldn’t be happier to have him as part of our Princeton Hockey family.”

In addition to a shared bond over hockey, Grayson and his teammates have enjoyed discussing their affinity for Harry Potter, super heroes and all sports.

“It’s been a blast so far having Grayson on our team,” said Kevin Anderson. “Grayson lights up the room every time he walks in and he’s always got the boys laughing. I think he’s a bright spot in all of our lives and it’s been really cool to see how well he’s fitting in with the team at meals or other Princeton events. I know we’re all super pumped to have him around and can’t wait to spend more time with him.”

“Adding Grayson to our team this year has been unreal,” said Jayden Sison. “He has already become one of the guys in the short time that we have gotten to know him. Whenever he is with us, his positive and outgoing personality has been contagious. The first couple of months with Grayson have been awesome and we are super excited to have him on board for the next two years.”

Grayson's game-day duties will include consistent vocal and moral support from his seat behind the Princeton bench at Baker Rink as well as extending his services to road games when his schedule of being a generally awesome and popular fifth-grader allows – including his first roadie with the team at Yale on November 8.