Tristan Winata is dedicated to being the best hockey player he can be. But the St. Joseph’s Prep senior is also committed to being the best teammate, leader, and student-athlete he can be.
The Sicklerville, N.J. is one of the Hawks’ captains and takes his responsibilities seriously.
“I want to make sure everybody feels included,” he said. “The environment around a hockey team is a good environment. I don’t really need to do much but just make sure everybody knows what they need to do, what [Coach David Giacomin] the coach is going to do.”
Winata is in the midst of his fourth varsity season but he was sidelined for a time during his freshman campaign by a shoulder injury. Now, as an experienced veteran, he works to ease his younger teammates transition to the high-school version of the game.
“It’s a big transition from eighth grade to high school,” he said, “or even from club to high school because there is a significant age gap, so I just want to make sure that everybody is fitting in. That they know how to play, how to keep themselves safe
“I find that really important because I got hurt my first year of high school I wouldn’t want that on anybody.”
Winata first hit the ice at age 7.
“My parents took me ice skating and I didn’t like it at first,” he recalls, “but the net time I went, at the Igloo [in Mount Laurel, N.J.], I met some kids who said ‘You’re fast, you should play ice hockey.’
“So, I started trying it out and I started to love the game.”
Winata chose St. Joseph’s Prep for the academic and athletic challenges it provides.
“St. Joseph’s Prep is a notoriously good school with a lot of good people,” he said. “It was a good hockey program a well. It was a good education, they gave me a good scholarship as well.”
Like many of his peers, Winata learned to manage his time effetively.
I try to get of as much procrastinating as possible. When I did that, I filled a lot of time honestly. I know a lot of people have it harder but I’m pretty good at school I’d say.
I‘ve been hardworking and I just try not to procrastinate; try to condense my work into as little time as possible.”
As Christmas approaches, the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference race is tightly bunched. The Hawks stand at 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the APAC heading into a scheduled Wednesday matchup against Malvern Prep. They’ll close out the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule against Father Judge on Friday night before defending their title in the Purple Puck Tournament in the nation’s capital next weekend.
“I think our team is looking pretty decent,” Winata said. “I think this year is one of those weird years where pretty much anybody can win, everyone’s pretty good. We’ve just got to be able to put the puck in the net and keep the puck out of our net. Make sure we finish hard and everything.”
Winata was able to broaden his hockey horizons this past summer by representing Indonesia at a tournament in Thailand.
‘Playing in Thailand that was pretty crazy,” Winata said. That was a lot of fun. It was quite an event. Not a lot people can say they’ve played internationally.
“I haven’t had much contact with Indonesia but it felt really nice, just to be able to represent something.”
Winata is proud to have played a role in popularizing hockey in a country that is home to member of his family.
“In Indonesia hockey is a growing sport,” he said. “Before maybe five years ago, they didn’t have ice rinks or anything but ice hockey is growing sport. They even have professional hockey over there. And being a part of that means a lot to me. It’s one of the biggest things I’ve been a part of.”
CLICK HERE for more about St. Joseph’s Prep.
– Rick Woefel, hockeyhappenings.com
