Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky and his dad, Walter

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." That quote was made by the #1 hockey player of all time, Wayne Gretzky. Wayne was a good sport on and off the ice and worked hard at what he did best, hockey. He is a good influence to young boys and girls growing up that love hockey. If you are wondering why I picked him as my hero you will have to read and find out!

Wayne Douglas Gretzky was born January 28, 1961 in Brantford Ontario. He has 3 brothers and 1 sister. His brothers' names are Kith, Glen and Brent. His sister's name is Kim. Wayne has two loving and encouraging parents. His mom's name is Phyllis and his dad's name is Walter. Unfortunately, Phyllis passed away December 19, 2005 but Wayne still thinks of her and what she did to help him get where he is today. When Wayne was young, Walter took him and his brothers to a backyard rink and practiced with them almost every day of the winter. Wayne started his first hockey season when he was 6 years old. He was too good to play at that level so the organization moved him up to play with the 10 year olds and still, he was the top scorer in that division with over 300 points. Walter influenced Wayne to never give up when he was a little kid. If he did something wrong, his dad wouldn't yell at him, he would just tell Wayne to keep practicing because Walter always said to him, "Practice makes perfect."

The hardest obstacle in life for Wayne was to overcome the death of his mother. It was a really hard time for Wayne because his mom was a big part of his life and was always there for him to cheer him up if things weren't going well in school or at hockey. He overcame the death of his mother by playing hockey so he wouldn't stress out. Also, he would often try to forget about the death of his mother but that wasn't easy for him.

I consider Wayne a hero because he is the all-time scoring leader in the NHL and he is my #1 favourite hockey player. I also consider him a hero because he is not selfish and is a good team player and never gives up. He has also had a hard time with the death of his mother but he still never gave up in anything he did. Wayne shows positive actions on the ice and when he's not on the ice. When he is playing hockey with his team he is a great team captain because he encouraged his team never to give up and he never got into fights with other players and teammates. When he is not on the ice, Wayne acts like a big brother to his younger siblings. he helped them with school work and in his spare time he took them out to the rink and taught them how to succeed in hockey. The main achievements that Wayne accomplished were making it to the NHL and becoming the all-time scoring champion in NHL history.

The character traits that Wayne shows are respect and courage. The reason why he shows these character traits is because he is respectful to his family members and his teammates. Wayne is courageous because he is not afraid to try new things and is not afraid to take hits and get hurt in hockey. When Wayne was 7 he made a mistake but his dad said, "Just get back up and try again, practice makes perfect." That is another quote that helped Wayne get through his hockey career successfully.

Wayne influences me because he is really good at hockey and he never gives up. He is a good sport on the ice and is a good role model. One day I want to be just like Wayne and score lots of goals in the NHL and take over the scoring title. I will just have to keep practicing just like Wayne did to make my dream come true!