A fresh face to the Hudson School District, Mr. Spicer, a 7th grade ELA teacher, has been making impacts in the classroom and in the pool.
A graduate of John Carroll University, Spicer moved to Hudson in 2018 with his wife and two kids from University Heights, where he was also a middle school teacher at Memorial Junior High. Spicer, or as the swim team refers to him (Brettski), decided to shake up his life a little more this past season by returning to the pool as an assistant coach for the Hudson Explorers Swim Team. Now, many would find this move to be quite a big one, since the team is known for its high competitive spirit and intense training programs, most of which work in the favor of most of the athletes. But Spicer found this as an amazing opportunity. “My passion for swimming and the opportunity to coach at such a storied program like Hudson is what motivated me to help out last season. With all of the disruption that COVID brought to lives, swimming was a place that helped ground me.”
Growing up, Spicer found himself pulled into the sport after a knee injury placed him in a situation where swimming was used as therapy/rehab. And after the injury healed, Spicer took the sport head on, swimming competitively all throughout high school and even for John Carrol during his college days. Throughout all that, he felt his love for the sport grow.
“While swimming in high school and college, I soaked up as much about the sport as I could. My coaches provided me with wonderful knowledge about the fundamentals of the strokes as well as various training methods …The ability to help others learn the sport that I loved was rewarding and what drove me to become a coach.”
Spicer joined the staff a couple of weeks after the start of the high school season, and he was completely a fresh face. New to both the staff and the coaches, Spicer worked hard to make his mark on the team, being present at almost every practice, walking around during team stretching and talking with the swimmers, offering a word of encouragement during rough sets, and he was there with a high five after a goal was met. Soon enough, he became a team icon. Personally, I liked to refer to him as the “team mom”, always there to cheer you on, offer words of encouragement, and help you get through a tough situation. He was quickly given a nickname by the team, since no coach is complete without a team nickname, and the legacy of Brettski began.
“The athletes gave me a nickname, and I said “I hate that nickname.” We all laughed and it became my nickname for the remainder of the season and into the offseason. That moment puts a smile on my face. That moment felt like an official, “you will always be a part of this family” moment.”
Now as the team enters a new season, and Spicer begins another year as a teacher and coach, he hopes to continue to help and teach both his students and athletes that hard work pays off as long as you pay attention to the details. And we couldn’t be more excited to have Brettski returning to help us have yet another killer season.
