The black puck shuffles back and forth between the stick all while skating at high velocity, a few meters before the goal he winds up a slap shot and seconds later a loud buzzer erupts indicating a goal.
Ever Since watching Hockey in the 2002 Winter Olympics, senior Jacob Zimmerman has skated up and down the ice at countless practices and competitions for the past twelve years.

Zimmerman said he wanted to try hockey when he watched it in the Olympics because it looked like a high intensity sport that would suit him well. Zimmerman knew a few guys from Berkeley who had already started playing so he joined a team with them.

Zimmerman is highly skilled and has played for some of California and the Nation’s most elite club teams, at one point his club team was ranked 8th nationally. He has experienced several great career moments while playing.

“Some of my career highs were being named captain of my club team, and winning the state title twice, after winning the state title we went and played at nationals which was a surreal experience for me,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman’s career began playing in Berkeley before the team there closed, he then played on a San Francisco based team, and the next year he played for a team based out of San Jose. Currently Zimmerman plays for Golden State Elite in Dublin.

This year with Golden State Elite, Zimmerman and his club qualified for an international tournament in which they played many other highly ranked clubs for across the country and world, with many hockey scouts present at all games.

Zimmerman has enjoyed the friendships he has made through the sport and has a good web of connections worldwide with other hockey players.

“I have friends in Mexico, the Czech Republic, Japan, Norway, Canada, and tons of different states. The connections you gain are endless. The connections I have made with my teammates are great, we treat each other as if we were brothers,” Zimmerman said.

Kyle Lohmann a teammate of Zimmerman’s said his experience playing hockey with Jacob has been a great.

“Throughout the years he has done great things, he has been extremely hard working on and off of the ice but the best quality about him is he has a relaxed person about him that I believe every team needs,” Lohmann said. “That is why I think Jacob has been successful in hockey and will continue to be successful in whatever he does in the years to come.”

Zimmerman plans to continue playing hockey after graduation. He plans on playing for Arizona State University’s D1 club team, who last year won the national championship.

“Playing at ASU next year should be a lot of fun, but still very challenging both academically and athletically,” Zimmerman said.