After being enrolled in skating lessons, George joined a hockey team when he was eight years old.

"The hardest part about the sport would have to be learning how to skate," he explains. "In every other sport you run, and you don't have to learn how to run, you're just born knowing how. But in hockey, you don't run, you skate, and skating is hard to do."

Some people have to try many different sports and hobbies before finding one that truly suits them, but not George. George fell in love as soon as he stepped on the ice.

"I saw these really big guys in all this equipment playing hockey, and at that moment I fell in love with the game," George says. "I just love playing the fastest game on two feet. I love feeling the wind breeze by my face when I am skating, and I just feel like I am flying sometimes, literally."

Soon after beginning hockey, George began attending tournaments with his team nationwide. He was only in second grade when he went to his first tournament, which was hosted in Lake Placid, New York, home of the 1980 Winter Olympics.

After that, George participated in numerous other tournaments, including nationals held in Alaska in 2000. His team, the Reston Raiders, placed fifth.

Most hockey teams in this area play in the Central Beltway Hockey league (CBHL) . However, George's team is a level above CBHL, and travels more often.

George's team,is on Tier 1, the highest level allowed by USA hockey. Because there are not many teams at this advanced level in the area, the team is forced to travel out of state almost every weekend to attend games and tournaments. This month alone George and his team have traveled to New Jersey, New York, Michigan, and Connecticut.

His team will represent all Southeastern states at Nationals to be held in Pennsylvania in April.
"I guess that my favorite game was when I played in an international tournament in Quebec, Canada," he says. "Itused to be a real NHL rink used by the Quebec Nordiques. Plus, there were over two thousand people from Quebec City at the stadium watching, and even more were watching on TV throughout Quebec," he says.

At that tournament, George was the captain of his team. "It felt really good leading my team onto the ice for such an important game."

Currently, he has rigorous training most days of the week. "On Mondays and Wednesdays I go to the gym for an hour and a half, lifting weights and running on my own," George says. "Tuesdays and Thursdays I have team practices that start at 9:00 p.m., and I usually don't get back home until 11:30 p.m."

In addition, traveling almost every weekend to tournaments and games, often makes time management difficult.

"It is hard to balance hockey with school and friends," George says. "Most days after practice I'll stay up pretty late finishing homework and over the weekends I never have time to go out with friends since I travel so much."

George already has big plans for the future.

"I want to be a pro-hockey player," he says. "I will do just about whatever it takes."