With the rush of school-sponsored sports such as football, basketball, volleyball and wrestling through the year, there are club sports that are left unnoticed by the majority. One of these club sports is hockey, starting their season in late October.

Senior Colton Rasmussen started playing hockey in Minot, ND when he was only six years old. He is a goalie for the Great Falls Americans, a high school team in town.

“I like that it’s not a mainstream sport. It’s less political; there is more playing time,” Rasmussen said.

He said he enjoys the fact that everyone has a shot at achieving success in the rink unlike other sports, and everyone is equally responsible and important.

“In hockey everybody has the opportunity to have a glory moment,” he said

The relationships made on the team are especially important to Rasmussen, who said that long practices both on dry land and on the ice allow teammates to develop a closer comradery.  These long practices do take a toll, though, not really leaving time for anything else.

Rasmussen also participates in the school soccer team as a goalie, plays violin in the Chamber Orchestra, and takes multiple honors classes. He also is the goalie and a midfielder for the Great Falls Fury lacrosse club in the spring as well.

In his spare time he really focuses on getting enough sleep and spending as much time as he can with friends and family.

Rasmussen said he wishes that everyone could participate in hockey, whether it is trying to play it or understanding it as a spectator.

He wants the students and staff to acknowledge that club sport participants are still student athletes, even though the sport might not be school-sponsored.

The Great Falls Americans will release their game schedule soon, and he stresses how important it is to have some peers as fans at games.

“Show up to games, it m