Chips of ice fly as senior Garrett Bauermeister skates across the rink, his eyes searching for the right opening to squeeze in a shot into the goal. However, hockey is not the only thing Bauermeister is focusing on.

Bauermeister recently moved to Madison, Wisconsin, to play hockey for the Madison Capitals, which required him to switch to online this year so he could have a more flexible schedule for hockey.

“I chose to move to Wisconsin and do online school so I could have a better opportunity to get scouted to play hockey in the future,” Bauermeister said.

Playing hockey in Wisconsin will give Bauermeister the opportunity to showcase his skills to different scouts and coaches that would not have seen him play in Indiana. 

“I started playing when I was three years old and played mainly out of a program in Fishers,” Bauermeister said. “My goal in this move is to get the opportunity to play hockey at a higher level, this could look like playing at a high level in college or even playing professionally.

With these goals in mind, Bauermeister made the choice to move away from his family and friends his senior year. He has high hopes that his choice will be worth all the sacrifice that comes with it.

“The hardest part about moving senior year is missing out on time with friends and family,” Bauermeister says. “It was a hard choice but I think this was a great opportunity and I will benefit a lot from it.”

Since moving states for hockey is common for high school athletes looking to further their hockey career, there is a program called Billet Families. Billet families are families that open their homes to hockey players from out of the state and country. 

“A billet family will take you in for the hockey season and help you get to know the area you’re living in,” Bauermeister said. “It’s set up through the team and your team manager finds a family for you.” 

Along with the adjustment of living with a billet family, Bauermeister is also adjusting to doing online school.

“Online school has its benefits but also has different disadvantages to in person school,” Bauermeister says. “For me the hardest part would be keeping up with assignments without having a teacher in front of me. This is also good in ways because I enjoy being able to do work at my own pace.”

Although online learning has its difficulties, Bauermeister is working to balance his school work and hockey practices during his first semester online. 

“I have already learned a lot from this experience,” Bauermeister said “My advice to people would be to take opportunities you are given, even if they come with sacrifice.”