by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
“I play hockey for the Granite City Lumberjacks, a juniors team out of St. Cloud, this is my third and final year on the team, and I am a forward,” said Bailey Sommers summarizing where he is now. Bailey began playing hockey in the Redwood Valley, Minnesota program concluding at Redwood Valley High School (RVHS) in 2017.
“I am a member of the Mdewakanton Dakota tribe, and I live near the Lower Sioux Indian reservation in Morton, Minnesota,” added Bailey.
“I am the most experienced returning player on the team,” said Bailey. “I will be looked at as a leader to the younger players. This is my final year of juniors, which is almost a requirement to play before college hockey, after which I will continue my education, and hopefully my hockey career at the college level. I then plan to go back to the Redwood area to teach, and hopefully coach someday.”
Joe Stremcha, Head Hockey Coach of RVHS, shared his memorable recollections of Bailey when he knew he was someone special on the ice:
“1/14/16, RVHS at Luverne, Bailey as a junior had a hat trick against the top 10 ranked team in the state in the first 20 some minutes of the game against Jaxon Nelson & Chaz Smedsrud, both D1 Hockey athletes right now. The 4-3 win was one of the top games in memory.
2/2/17 RVHS vs. Hutchinson, Bailey as a senior scored all five goals in the 7-5 loss. Hutch was a far better team on the stat sheet, but when Bailey was on the ice he was untouchable. One of the goals he over-powered through three guys in a puck battle at the redline, then burnt the D at the blue line and snipped the goalie glove side, it was amazing and the replay is forever burned into memory.
2/23/17 RVHS at Litchfield was the biggest win in program history. His assist to a wide-open Hunter Tholkes sent us to Gustavus Adolphus College in the playoffs for the first time in program history. All night he was a target and still managed to record a goal and three assists.”
Bailey talked about his core values and sports: “Growing up I was always taught two main core values from my tribe, that was that family comes first, we’re all a family, and to respect your elders. The family part is a big part of team sports and is really important because you spend so much time with some of your teammates that they do become like family. It is also important because in juniors you do live with a family that you become very close to that becomes almost a second family. Respecting your elders is also vital in any team sport, respecting and listening to the advice of the more experienced player is not only a way to gain their trust and favor, but also to grow as a player yourself. The next elders you have to respect are the coaches. Coaches have more experience, and have been around the game much longer than the players.”
“The first major influence on me was my dad Jason Sommers,” said Bailey. “He was my first hockey coach, and still even now will give me advice from the stands from time to time. He is the first person I go to if I’m struggling, or just need advice.”
Jason Sommers shared: “Bailey’s passion for hockey began when he was 4 years old. If he wasn’t skating he was in our basement shooting tennis balls at his brother and sister whom he made play goalie. Many winter nights were spent on our small rink at our house. He would spend hours outside skating and shooting until we made him come in.”
“When it comes to sports Bailey is kind of a perfectionist, he would spend hours perfecting a move, or learning new moves, or just working on his shot,” said Jason. “He was always the first one on the ice and the last one off, smiling most of the time.”
“Not only was I a proud parent but I was lucky enough to coach Bailey from age four all the way through high school. Bailey is so much more than just an athlete. He would volunteer Saturday mornings to help with youth hockey. He was always great with kids. So it was no surprise to us when Bailey told us he wants to be a teacher. He wants to come back and teach, coach and give back to the community he grew up in,” added Jason.
“The next major influence on my hockey career was my high school Head Coach Joe Stremcha,” said Bailey. “Joe coached me from my sophomore season until my senior season. He helped change our team from a bottom team in the state to becoming the closest team that Redwood hockey has had to go to the state tournament. He also showed just the impact one coach can have on not only a team but a whole organization.”
“Bailey was a special athlete and more importantly a great person and leader to be around,” added Coach Joe. Overall Bailey crushed the RVHS record books, with huge leads in all three statistical areas: 121 career goals, 76 career assists and 197 career pts.
“Growing up in a town not known for hockey in Minnesota was a little difficult,” said Bailey. “Our high school team only had our 10th anniversary in my junior season. Having a very young program we don’t have a lot of the luxuries of a more established program, for example, we have never had summer ice. We would sometimes have to travel upwards of two hours just to skate. Most people would’ve never done that but hockey players are a little different.”
Bailey Sommers will soon be making a major decision to go to his next hockey stop. His success story promises to continue to be memorable as he moves forward.
Photo Credits: Rich Thul Photography
