SUPERIOR, Wis. – Coming all the way from Blainville, Quebec Charles Martin is a senior captain and defenseman on this year’s men’s hockey team. He was recruited to play for UWS about four years ago and hasn’t looked back. “I thought it was a great opportunity for both hockey and to get better at school,” said Martin.
At first Martin struggled as he grew up speaking French in Quebec and had to adjust to life in the States. He, in a way, forced himself to be with his friends, and other people to help expose him more to the English language. He was only taught a little bit growing up. Now that he has had time to develop at the University his English has vastly improved.
Martin was also surprised how harsh the winters can be in Superior even though he grew up in Canada. He was even surprised by how big hockey is in the northern states and it made him excited to grow and learn as a hockey player at UWS.
He has learned the work you put in will always be worth it and as a captain with a very young team he has been passing that down to his new teammates. In the off-season Martin has worked on his strength, and his skating ability the last couple of years. Martin is a two-sport athlete, also playing on the golf team so for him his off-season is split between training and golf.
“Hockey has always been the number one thing for me,” Martin said. As he started skating at about three years old, with the help of his dad growing up. Growing up he played goalie, but Martin liked to be in the action, all the time. He wanted to be out there skating with his teammates side-by-side and because of that he switched to defenseman in high school and has stuck with it ever since.
