Most people would think completing a PhD is hard enough. Try having to spend every day in a cold arena and playing two games a week as a member of the Mustangs men’s hockey team heralding a 14-game winning streak.
But this is just part of the job for team captain Luc Martin.
“Every day I want to go play hockey,” says the right wing forward. “I really enjoy it because it helps me stay focused.”
As a PhD candidate in Kinesiology, Martin has been supported by his supervisor, Professor Albert Carron, in his two pursuits. When considering whether to continue playing the sport he loves during graduate school, Carron told Martin he didn’t have to make a choice. “He thinks you can do two things well.”
This is Martin’s fifth year with the team and his last year of eligibility. The team is hoping to continue its success and make a consecutive run at the national championships.
The Western Mustangs will host the Lakehead Thunderwolves in two games Friday Jan. 8 and Saturday Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at Thompson Arena.
Being part of the men’s hockey team gives Martin balance in his life. “I go to school all day and hockey is more of a break. I can go there and blow off some steam and come back and do some more work at night.”
As the only PhD student on the team, Martin has served as a role model for other junior players.
Martin recognizes it is not easy to be a student-athlete, however many players on the team have shown they can manage academics and athletics.
“We have a lot of good students on our team,” he says, noting 11 players were named Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) Academic All-Canadians.
Other PhD candidates moonlighting as varsity athletes are: Choi Fong Cho, Medical Biophysics (Badminton); Lisa Boyko, Psychology (Golf); Chad Harris, Physics (Rugby); Chris Racknor, Physics (Rugby); Ian Patton, Kinesiology (Wrestling); and Katie Lebel, Kinesiology (Golf).
Overall, Western Mustangs are tops in Ontario and have jumped to fourth in the nation when it comes to the number of top academic student-athletes.
With 101 Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) Academic All-Canadians this year, the Mustangs trail only Laval (141), McGill (131) and Alberta (111) for the number of student-athletes with academic averages of 80 per cent or better who compete in CIS sports.
Once again, Western leads Ontario University Athletics with 137 Achievement Award winners (student-athletes with academic averages of 80 per cent or better who compete in Ontario University Athletics sports).
More than 25 per cent of Western’s student-athletes have an average of 80 per cent or better with 238 Mustangs earning this status.
Western honoured its student-athletes at an annual awards luncheon in December.
Watch Martin and his teammates on the men’s and women’s hockey teams on Saturday for Western Family Hockey Festival. The deadline to order complimentary tickets is Thursday, Jan. 7 at 5 p.m.
For more information on Mustang athletics or to order tickets, visit www.westernmustangs.ca.