GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - You always hear it: a sports team among men is a brotherhood.
However, for this year’s hockey team at Forest Hills Central High School, the term "family" is to be taken to heart.
"We have five sets of brothers on the team," said FHC head coach, Kevin Zaschak. "I’ve coached 12 varsity seasons of hockey and a couple brothers, but never five sets at one time."
The fraternal 10 are made up of the Munger brothers, the Ott brothers, the Sarjeant brothers, the Jeffrey brothers, and the Mielock brothers.
"We have a team saying, a team motto, that’s 'We.'" said the oldest of the Mielocks, Carl. "It’s on the back of my helmet, it’s in our locker room. "That’s our chant before games."
That chant, combined with the team’s brotherly connection, must be working, because right now the Forest Hill Central Rangers’ record is 11-4.
When asked if their winning streak has anything to do with all the brothers, Coach Zaschak says, "It’s good and bad. There’s times on the bench where they can get into it, and there's times when the other brother can rein their brother in. So I think it has its pros and cons, and I’d say more pros, but we’ve definitely seen both sides of that in the middle of a heated battle in a game."
What we know for sure is that this team has a rare connection, one that will carry them far.
The Rangers will be competing for a conference championship in the next few months, and they hope for a state championship as well.
