Dundalk, Ireland – As the doors of the Dundalk Ice Dome swung shut for what has, to date, been the final time in May of 2010 after just 40 months of operations a small hockey community in the northeast of Ireland mourned it's loss. The rink opened to great fanfare in December of 2006, only to file for bankruptcy and close its doors a few short years later with the promise of re-opening under new management. Weeks turned to months. New management never came. Hockey players in the small coastal town, home to about twice the population of Auburn, were faced with a choice: go to great lengths to play the sport they loved or move onto another pastime. These crossroads forced a choice for Central Maine Community College forward Sean Coleman, just 13 at the time, who grew up in Dundalk and had started playing hockey when the rink opened.
"Growing up playing ice hockey in Ireland was challenging," he said. "But I wasn't ready to quit playing a sport I had just fallen in love with."
From the fleeting moments at the Ice Dome to his current home ice at Norway Savings Bank Arena, Coleman's decision to keep on playing has taken him to a variety of places and has taught him many lessons in perseverance. After his hometown rink closed Coleman was forced to commute an hour a half once a week to Northern Ireland's capital city of Belfast, lacing up the skates for the Belfast Giants youth program before graduating into the club's U18 ranks. The team would practice weekly and play games in Scotland, with Coleman developing a name for himself as a shifty, quick forward. He began to separate himself from his peers, scoring at a goal-per-game pace in the Scottish U18 league. The yearning for bigger things began to pull at him.
"As ice hockey isn't as developed in Ireland, I knew I had to search somewhere else to play outside of Ireland," said Coleman, recounting the leap he had to make at just 16 years old. "When the option of America came calling it was too good to turn down."
Before Coleman would board a transatlantic flight to Boston to begin his hockey career stateside, there was one piece of business to take care of in his home country--in late 2012 Coleman was selected to represent his country at the IIHF Division III World Championships in Cape Town, South Africa in April of 2013.
"Representing my country at the IIHF World Championships was a dream of mine from the day I started playing hockey," said Coleman. "I got a lot more ice time than I thought I would considering I was the youngest player on the team. It was an amazing experience."
After a dazzling 6-3 victory over Greece to start the tournament the team would struggle going forward, falling to South Africa, Luxembourg, and North Korea and eliminating themselves from medal contention. This set up a dead rubber match with United Arab Emirates on April 21st, 2013, with both teams out of medal contention. It was on that night Coleman would etch his name into Irish hockey history. With Ireland leading 2-1 in the first period, Coleman collected a loose puck in front before taking it to his backhand and slipping it by UAE goaltender Khaled Al Suwaidi. It was Coleman's first senior international goal, making him the youngest player to ever score for Ireland's senior team at just 16 years, 8 months and 28 days old. He would dub the experience "one of the best days of [his] life."
Ireland would go on to win the contest 7-3, a positive end to Coleman's career on the opposite side of the Atlantic. From there, just a junior in high school, Coleman made a life-changing decision: to try to pursue his hockey goals outside of his home country. He arrived in Boston and began taking classes at Sacred Heart School on the southern coast of Massachusetts while playing for the Bay State Breakers U-18 club. After his senior year he was promoted to the U-20 team in the USPHL's Elite division where he was among the team leaders in scoring. The on-ice piece of Coleman's dream was falling into place. Away from the rink, however, he was struggling to adjust.
"I didn't do great in school here," said Coleman. "I was extremely overwhelmed and I struggled in classes. By the time I was ready to go to college I needed to find somewhere I could get into and improve my grades, and I wanted to keep playing hockey. Central Maine was an option I couldn't turn down. As an international student, the cost of attending was a lot less than a lot of other universities across America. It was a great option to further my education."
Coleman's coach at Bay State had suggested he look into Central Maine Community College's fledgling hockey program, at the time entering its second year of play. It seemed to be the perfect fit—an opportunity to continue playing hockey at a high level and a chance to improve himself academically. Coleman applied, enrolled, and moved into the Central Maine dorms in the fall of 2017. He excelled on the ice as one of the team's leading scorers but his academic struggles continued. He struggled to stay eligible, ultimately putting his hockey career in jeopardy. From there he met Christine Lee, his adviser and confidant at the school, who helped him right the ship.
"When I met Sean we hit it off right away," said Lee, a learning advising specialist at CMCC. "At first, like many college kids, he took the easiest way out possible. He strove for the grade that would get him by. He was a great kid when he showed up here but he took the road of least resistance. Over the years he's changed into a man that cares about his future and his grades. He's taken it upon himself to work hard at doing the right thing and caring for the people around him."
During his sophomore year at Central Maine his grades would continue to rise but, in an almost cruel irony, he began to struggle on the ice. For one of the first times since moving to the United States he felt out of place at the rink, unable to contribute on the score sheet and struggling to get his game going. After an impressive freshman campaign that saw him average nearly two points per game, Coleman returned to earth with a more pedestrian 16 points in 22 games.
"I know it was a really hard year for Sean," said Central Maine head coach Matt Buotte, who has worked with Coleman for the past two seasons. "He couldn't get it going. He had a slow start and ended up being really negative, just having a bad outlook on things. I told him, truthfully, that if he didn't change his attitude at the rink he wasn't going to have a place on our team. I know a lot of it came from a genuine place, of wanting to win and compete. But he was hard on himself and it was tough on those around him. I gave him the challenge of coming back this year and not only being prepared to play hockey but be prepared to lead and be positive. Ultimately when you come to the rink with a good attitude then good things will happen to you. I think Sean is a great example of that."
Coleman, currently on a line with freshman Austin Taylor and roommate Zac Brown, has exploded out of the gate. He scored the team's first goal of the 2019-20 campaign in a 5-3 loss to New Haven and has registered multi-point games in both of the Mustangs contests to date to lead the team in scoring heading into pivotal weekend match-ups against the University of New England and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
"It's what we needed from him," said Buotte. "He's a great skater and a great play maker. He's helping drive that line and it's awesome to see. He's grown into a great leader on our club. He told me at the end of last season that I hadn't seen the best of him and that I was going to get a brand new Sean this year. I didn't believe him because, honestly, you hear a lot of lip service from players, right? He's proved me wrong at every turn so far and I hope he keeps doing it because he has so much potential, not just on the ice but as a person. He's an awesome guy and he's going to play a huge part in anything we're able to accomplish this year."
Coleman, at 23, is one of the older players on the club and has taken on more of a leadership role with the team. Recently he organized a group of three teammates and headed to Norway Early Learning Center to read to the children and spread the word of hockey. For the first time since coming abroad he is excelling both on the ice and in the classroom.
"I'm just trying to be more positive," he says. "Believe in myself on and off the ice."
As his time at Central Maine winds down, Coleman is hoping to continue his education and complete a bachelor's degree in business before ultimately settling down in the United States. No matter where he ends up it will just be the latest chapter in a long, winding saga spurned by a bankrupt ice arena and love of hockey.
"I've been thankful for the opportunity," he said. "I've had to overcome so many obstacles throughout my time here to get to where I am now. I'm trying to keep my head down and work hard to improve. The team we have gets along excellent and I think we have the right players to go on and have a great season."
