Never put your aspirations on ice

HOW far would you go to make your children’s dreams a reality? 

For the Yu family, they went all the way by selling their house and moving to a different country so that their two boys, Nathaniel ‘Nate’ Shawn Yu and Mathaeus ‘Matty’ Grason Yu, could fulfil their potential as ice hockey athletes. 

Boasting a tight-knit familial relationship, the Yu brothers have been on the ice from a young age and are frequently seen together on the ice rink by members of the Malaysian ice hockey team. 

Currently training in Thailand, 15-year-old Nate and 12-year-old Matty have played for and against international teams and trained with coaches from the US and Canada since they began their ice hockey career in 2012. 

While all these achievements may sound like a lot of glitz and glamour for kids their age, these young boys also had to make many sacrifices, such as leaving their family home.

In order to provide Nate and Matty with more training opportunities, the Yu family started a new chapter in their lives by packed everything up, selling their house in Malaysia and moving to Thailand. 

“In this foreign land, we live a simple life and humbly depend on locals to help us out,” shares the boys’ mother, Grace Lim. 

Apart from the challenge of uprooting and starting anew, living abroad meant being away from home and missing frequent family reunions.

Throughout their ice hockey career, Nate and Matty have had to switch teams but since their move to Thailand, they now need to switch schools as well.

For them to get enrolled in a hockey school in Massachusetts, USA is in the near future, the boys are presently studying the American syllabus at a Christian international school in Thailand.  

Despite having more shifts and changes for the boys down the road, Nate and Matty’s parents have never failed to instil a positive attitude in their children. 

When The Vibes asked how the boys cope with these constant changes, Grace replied, “It doesn't matter which team you play for. What is most important is that you always give your best in whatever position you play in; the more teams you play for, the more people you meet and the more you learn”. 

The boys’ impressive fortitude has also been noticed by Nate and Matty’s coaches. 

“This kid moved from his birth country to Thailand; I can’t imagine doing the same thing at that age but I am glad he makes friends easily,” shared Matty’s coach, Leo Liao. 

“The shift has not only impacted his life, it has impacted his ability to play ice hockey ─ he now has to make new friends and know them on a deeper level to play as a team,” shared Nate’s coach, Thanaphat Surasirirattanasin. 

Regardless, have all the moving around and sacrifices been worth it, or would the boys be better off living a ‘normal’ life? 

According to Grace, every sacrifice and decision made for her children has been worth it. 

“The boys have learned to be courageous by leaving their comfort zone. They have learned humility by living abroad. They are more exposed to the world by learning new languages and cultures. They are now more mature, confident and independent,” said Grace. 

For every youngster who feels that their parents would never make the same sacrifice for their dreams, do keep in mind that Nate and Matty have worked and sacrificed just as much as their parents. 

According to Coach Surasirirattanasin, Nate is highly-motivated and focuses on every practice session with the best intentions; win or lose, he’s always ready to “revise, improve, and practice”.

On the other hand, Coach Liao shared that Matty not only takes in every suggestion, he discusses the match with him after each game. 

Ice hockey is not merely a part of Nate and Matty’s life, it has become their life; the grind doesn’t stop when practice is over or when the buzzer goes off. 

Despite all this, the boys value their academic pursuits just as much as they value their time on the ice. ─ The Vibes, 2 February, 2021