Photo Credit: Reading Royals
Meet Reading Royals electric defenseman, Koletrane Wilson. Hardcore defenseman
and certified family man. Wilson credits a lot of his success to his family. Especially his
father and older brother.
Edmonton, Alberta native Koletrane threw on the skates when he was three years old. “It’s kind of like second nature. I live in Edmonton, so watching the Oilers play. And my brother before me went through hockey and ended playing in the east coast as well.” Koletrane’s brother, Klarc Wilson played 17 games for the Indy Fuel and 28 games for the Stockton Thunder, also totaling 190 penalty minutes in his 45
games. “Kind of lived vicariously through him and wanting to be like my big brother.” Starting off strong with the impact his brother had on him, I asked him who his biggest inspiration was and to my surprise, he had three strong candidates. “I can’t pick one. Between my dad, brother, and grandfather. Those three have been in their own ways very inspirational and pivotal in my life,” made it clear that he had three all star role models in his life.
Talking about when he knew he was going to start taking hockey seriously, he states he knew around eight or nine years old. “I want to say around eight or nine, I think, honestly I never really thought about it until I was a teenager, like playing junior hockey.” With continuing with when you watch the NHL as a kid you dream of playing in that league one day, “you kind of realize that you have the ability in other things
than the NHL to make a living out of it.”
Wilson is no stranger to challenges with a couple recent injuries and one that kept him
out most of the season last year, he has a positive outlook on the growth. “I think anytime you face an injury, you got to find your way back physically, but also mentally, you know?” He doesn’t let being cut out rejected from a team dim his light, “I’ve been cut or rejected or whatever you wanna call it a number of times in my career. I think sometimes you can either roll over and die or pick yourself back up and keep going. So you kind of learn through those experiences.” Not only is that a bold statement for and from himself, but also it’s a statement for everyone regardless of profession to keep in mind. When faced with the mental blockages of these challenges, Koletrane leans on his support system. Referring back to his father, brother, and grandfather. He also leans on his fiancé. “Especially with that injury last year,
my fiancé was huge in that regard. So you lean on the people around you.” Expresses his gratitude for the fact he has an “unreal” support system.
It’s no secret that the ECHL is an unpredictable league. Coming into the league at 21, he quickly realized how different things are especially compared to the junior leagues. Stating, “I think you kind of get used to it.” And again with leaning on that support system, “I got my fiancé with me. And she pretty much goes everywhere I go nowadays. It’s nice.”
With the ECHL mostly being a developmental league it’s challenging. “So, I mean, everybody is obviously happy to be in the city. But at the end of the day, they have aspirations to make it to the American League, or the NHL, or somewhere in Europe. And I think that sometimes that can get in the way of games or like in the back of your mind, if you want to perform for this reason, or perform for that reason, hopefully, this person’s watching and stuff like that. So I think that that’s something that sometimes can benefit people, or also hinder them in performance.” With people from Flyers personnel occasionally being in attendance at Royals games, it can be nerve wracking for players knowing these guys are in the audience. “I think everyone in this league wants to move forward, move on forward. That includes the coaches, the training staff, like you know, I think everyone, they have the opportunity to move up to the American League, NHL, you know, but I think they’re going to take it. So when you hear someone that
makes the decisions and those leaves in the building, it’s kind of hard not to be like, you know, I hope I can impress them in some way.”
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With the idea of other aspirations, he would like to be like his father. “My dad’s a police officer. And you know, again, one one of the hero’s in my life. You know I always said if hockey didn’t work out, I kind of want to be just like my dad. And if it worked out for my family, be a police officer.” Wilson says he’s focusing more on hockey now that he is doing it for a job. Speaking of himself off the ice he sees himself
as a nice guy. However on the ice he had to learn to be more mean, “the last couple years I had to learn to be mean and not be a nice guy in the defensive zone. At first it was challenging. But I have figured out how to find that line.”
Getting to speak with Koletrane Wilson was a fantastic one on one experience as a writer. Outgoing and polite. Took his time with the questions and answered honestly. Koletrane Wilson and the Reading Royals take on the number two team in the ECHL, the Idaho Steelheads on the road in Boise for a three game series.
