Springboro coach Tony Morris said his senior center has the kind of talent that makes the entire team sharper.
“(Weisser) is an outstanding player,” Morris said. “He’s not selfish and he likes to make everybody around him better.”
Growing up in Germany
Since he was 5 years old, Weisser said he picked up a hockey stick everyday while growing up in Kaufbeuren, Germany.
“All I did was go to school and play hockey,” he said.
Weisser, 18, played on competitive German teams throughout his teens and was the only 17-year-old on the German Junior Champion ESV-Kaufbeuren club team.
Though he only touched the ice in four games for the 17-20 club, Weisser said practicing with the best players in that area was worth the lack of playing time.
“I could have played for a team not as good or practiced with my team and not played,” he said. “It turned out to be a good decision.”
Weisser isn’t the only talented hockey player in his family. His twin sister, Anya, is a defender on the German Women’s National Team.
Coming to America
When Weisser joined the foreign exchange student program, he already had an idea of where he was going to live.
“Usually, you get placed with a family, but I already knew the Studzinkis,” Weisser said.
In August 2009, Weisser moved to Springboro to live with his step uncle, Dave Studzinski, and his step cousins, D.J. and Travis. Weisser had previously visited the U.S. on two different occasions, but not for an extended period.
Soon after the move, Weisser began the school year as a senior at Springboro and the starting center for the Panthers.
Weisser said it’s tough being a foreign exchange student because of the daily grind of class and the language barrier.
“In Germany, we have different classes on different days,” he said, “but here it’s the same everyday.
“When teachers are talking, it’s hard to keep up with them. It’s even harder to study in a different language.”
On the ice
While Weisser is near the top in most offensive categories in the SWOHSHL, he mentioned hockey in America is more of a blue-collar style of play.
“The ice in Germany is bigger than America,” he said. “So there’s more hitting and it’s more physical (here).”
Because of Weisser’s previous experience with a German club team, Morris said his American teammates look at Weisser as a leader.
“They look up to him because of his ability,” he said. “The kids don’t mind asking questions and listening to him because of the way he handles himself in front of them.”
Weisser said that for him to continue playing and studying in America depends on whether the 18-year-old receives a college scholarship.
“(Weisser) wants to stay here and the only way that he would be capable is to get a scholarship,” Morris said.
If a scholarship doesn’t find Weisser, he would return to Germany in June and spend another year in high school. Weisser hopes to stay in the states.
“I like school and hockey in America,” he said. “I’ve had a good time and I really like it over here.”
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