Soldier Turned Spartan, Eck Inspires

On Monday Nov. 12, the University of Tampa hockey team played in one of their biggest games of the year against the University of South Florida at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

One thing that was special about this game aside from being played at the Times Forum was that one UT player got a well deserved recognition before the audience sang the national anthem.

Kevin Eck, who is a forward on the team, served in the military for four years prior to attending the University of Tampa and playing on the hockey team.

During his time in the military, he was stationed in Vicenza, Italy with the 173rd Airborne Attack Company and then did

University of Tampa forward Kevin Eck served in the military for four years. | Photo courtesy of Kevin Eck

a 15 month tour in Afghanistan where he was stationed at FOB Tillman which is located on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“I originally did college right out of high school and I found myself not really focused on it,” said Eck. “It got to the point where I was like I’m just wasting my parents money and I needed to take a break. So I took a break and I have always wanted to do something kind of extreme and I have always been interested in the army so I looked into it and sure enough I got into the military.”

Serving in the military and currently being a veteran for our country is something incredible and being apart of that experience is something Eck will always have.

“What impacted me was that you have a different mindset. You’re in the military; you have all these different rules you have to follow, you’re disciplined, I mean a big thing I learned was discipline.. You learn time management skills, respect and dignity. There are seven key categories of the army and I learned every last detail of each one,” said Eck.

“When I was stationed in Afghanistan I was with a whole other culture and it is obviously way different than it is over here and I had to step back and get to there level and try to adapt to what their views are and how they’re looking at the world and how they look at us. It was like a third party aspect, looking from the outside in at everything that was going on.”

After being able to serve for four years, and earning two medals in the military, which were the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Eck has had the privilege to be able to attend the University of Tampa and be able to play for Coach Kucera since the start of the hockey program.

“It’s a great opportunity to go to school at a much older age,” said Eck.

“I’m not your typical 19-20 year old college student but it’s good.I have always had a lifelong passion to go to school whether it was when I was 19, which I didn’t do very well, or now. Coming back and looking at it and having the army to back me up, to be able come back to a school like University of Tampa which is an awesome school located in a great town, I just feel honored to play hockey for Tampa and to be one of the students here.”

The University of Tampa’s club hockey team took on USF on Monday night at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. | Photo by Samantha Battersby/ The Minaret

Eck’s fellow teammates and Coach Kucera have a lot of respect for him and think he is an incredible player and human being.

“He is just incredible,” said Kucera. “He has a phenomenal work ethic and his fitness level is unbelievably high. Every time I see him there is never a question that he is not going to approach whatever we are doing with passion and heart. His commitment is extraordinary and it just reflects his past military training. He brings so much to the ice because he loves to skate and is passionate about it and he wants results. He is also unselfish to a flaw. The guys pick up his energy and you can especially see that when team chemistry isn’t right or they are a little down for whatever reason, he immediately jumps in without hesitation to lift them up and get their heads wrapped around what they need to do. He literally approaches a hockey game or a practice like it’s a mission.”

Not only does Kucera believe Eck is an incredible person, but his teammates look up to him and can see his passion and dedication for the game during every practice and game.

“The whole team looks up to Kevin. He is the hardest worker on the team; he’s disciplined and has a strong ice presence,” said teammate Matt Fenby.

“He has a selfless work ethic and is a strong player mentally and physically. Kevin is the best teammate you could have because he is so passionate about the game and is so disciplined; he’s like a warrior and that comes from his military background.”

Along with being the definition of best teammate, Kucera has enjoyed watching Eck grow and develop as a player since he joined the team in the Spring of 2010 right in the beginning of the program.

“He is every coach’s dream,” states Kucera.

“With the heart and passion he plays with but he also works on the various dimensions of his game like his skating, his stick handling, his shooting, thinking about where to be and how to contribute on the ice and how he sees the game. He is always listening and is always the first to tell everyone to pay attention and he is incredibly responsible overall. He has just a very disciplined mind which reflects his military training and who he is as a person. I’ve watched him grow as a player and it’s incredible.”

Eck, who loves the game of hockey can definitely see similarities between it and the military.

“I think hockey is a great game, I love the game and there’s just something about it and I think what drives me is my competitive nature and you get that culture from being in an environment with other people who are compelled to win and want to win,” said Eck.

“It’s similar to the military because you come together with a group of people that you don’t know and you learn to work together along with their strengths and weaknesses and by the end you are able to be there for each other and help one another out.”

When asked any final words about Eck, Kucera could not stop saying how much he admires him as a person.

“I admire his selflessness and the sacrifice he’s made for his country and just his overall attitude,” said Kucera.

“He is the kind of guy who confronts adversity head on and doesn’t hold anything back. It is very admirable who he is and how he carries himself as a human being and he is definitely a role model for the guys on the team and even the coaches.”

Unfortunately, the hockey team lost against USF 4-3 on Monday, but it was still a special moment for the team and for Kevin Eck himself.

The Spartans take on Kennesaw Stated next on Friday Nov. 16.

Paige Shallcross can be reached at paige.shallcross@spartans.ut.edu.