Hockey, Lacrosse
Drafted by the Peterborough Petes
Committed to Yale University

I first met Nate Slack in 2017.

It’s funny looking back at the first email exchange I had with his mom. The questions were about whether coaches could help tie skates, what equipment he needed to bring, and there was even a subtle reminder from me about sunscreen.

Nate was seven.

For some perspective, we now see four- and five-year-olds skating five times a week, playing elite hockey all over the city and seemingly having their entire hockey path mapped out before they start Grade 1.

That wasn’t Nate.

His beginning in hockey was pretty humble. What stood out immediately wasn’t that he was the best skater or the most polished player. He wasn’t. What stood out was that Nate absolutely loved sports. He loved hockey, he loved lacrosse, he loved competing and he loved being around the game.

His U8 year, Nate played Tier 4 Select at Ted Reeve. He eventually moved over to Vic Village and played Tier 2. That year, I coached the Tier 1 team that was preparing to become the Don Mills Flyers, while that Tier 2 group would eventually move into AA. Nate continued progressing, spending the next couple of seasons playing AA, with COVID interrupting one of those years.

Then one summer, he played in our BEAST 3-on-3 league.

And he lit it up.

I remember thinking pretty simply: “We need this kid.” He competed. He wanted the puck. He loved scoring goals. And he was a really good lacrosse player — something I was never shy about admitting probably earned a player a few extra points with me. From there, Nate joined our Don Mills Flyers team and spent the next six years playing for me.

Every year, he got better.

There weren’t summers packed with elite hockey tournaments. Nate played box lacrosse. He played Beast. He competed in different environments and continued developing as an athlete. And most importantly, he kept working.

This year, Nate was drafted by the Peterborough Petes. Two months later, he committed to Yale University. And next year, he’ll head to Westminster School in Connecticut — where I went to prep school myself — to continue playing both hockey and lacrosse before eventually making the jump to Yale.

For me, that might be one of the coolest parts of the story.

Nate’s multi-sport journey isn’t ending because hockey has opened doors for him. It continues to be part of who he is as an athlete. I love telling stories like Nate’s. He’s a kid from Scarborough who attends Neil McNeil. He wasn’t identified as some can’t-miss hockey player at six or seven years old. He didn’t start on the highest team. His road wasn’t perfectly mapped out.

He just kept getting better.

At Bob Acton Sports and Beast, we will always try to provide local kids with the best platform we possibly can. Great coaching, competition, opportunities and people who believe in them matter. But the older I get, the more I realize that eventually “the kid has to steer the ship.”

The players who really separate themselves are usually the ones you don’t have to tell to practice.

They’re shooting pucks in the driveway. They’re playing in the schoolyard. They’re throwing a lacrosse ball against a wall. They’re competing with their friends. They accumulate hours without anyone calling it development. And those hours compound.

Nate Slack is a great example of that. None of it happened overnight.

I’m incredibly proud of Nate and excited to watch the next chapter.

Congratulations, Nate. You’ve earned it.