Still, nothing encapsulated his journey quite like an international tournament in Hong Kong. Competing in an elite\u00a0IIHF youth competition, Hunter found himself facing a level of play beyond anything he had experienced. The rink \u2014 located on the 10th floor of a 26-story shopping mall, sunlight reflecting off skyscrapers \u2014 felt surreal. His team went 1\u20133, losing a dramatic bronze medal game in overtime after rallying from a 3\u20130 deficit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe level of hockey there under the IIHF elite youth competition was at a level I\u2019ve never played at before,\u201d he said. \u201cWay higher than high school or the Colts travel team. It was a whole other thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tournament wasn\u2019t just an opportunity to play at the highest level of international competition. It was also a chance for Hunter\u2019s Filipino grandparents to see him play for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the first game, my grandpa asked my mom, \u2018Does Dylan know how to skate?\u2019\u201d Hunter said, laughing at the memory. \u201cIt was really great having them there. I\u2019d look out during stoppages and know they came. They were there for all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
His grandparents not only watched every game, but even had a chance to ride the team bus following the final game back to the hotel.<\/p>\n
It was a unique opportunity for Hunter to represent his culture and heritage on the world stage, and collect memories that will last a lifetime.<\/p>\n
\u201c(I\u2019m) proud I can be a part of this community and say that I was able to represent my nation,\u201d he said. \u201cNot a lot of people can say they\u2019ve done that. I\u2019m really proud to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
His team featured Filipino players from the United States, Switzerland, Canada, and even Qatar, coming together to represent their roots.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn hockey not a lot of players are from the Philippines,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cHaving everyone together was great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite his travels and ambitions\u2014including a commitment to the United States Naval Academy, where he\u2019ll attempt to make the hockey team\u2014Hunter remains rooted in Montville. He\u2019s a junior firefighter, a volunteer, and a visible presence in the town that raised him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Montville,\u201d he said simply. \u201cI\u2019ve always been here. I love supporting the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Dylan Hunter, the path from a video game to international ice has been shaped by heritage and community, by mornings at local rinks and memories made thousands of miles away, by bridging cultural divides and making lasting memories.<\/p>\n
Even if they didn\u2019t ultimately win the tournament, Hunter\u2019s favorite quote rings true.<\/p>\n
\u201cReach for the stars so if you fail, you can land on a cloud.\u201d<\/p>\n
Photos courtesy of Dylan Hunter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Still, nothing encapsulated his journey quite like an international tournament in Hong Kong. Competing in an elite\u00a0IIHF youth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-656199","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}