Daniel Bochner is a 27-year-old YE who started Universal Hockey just over a year ago. This training ground helps young athletes develop their skills and cement their love and involvement with hockey. With massive plans for expansion, both national but most impressively international, Daniel Bochner shows no signs of missing the puck in the near future. Find out more about this retired pro-hockey player in today’s YEDaily.
Elevator Pitch: Describe your business in a nutshell.
I started Universal Hockey after I retired from playing professional hockey in Europe. It has been one year since we have been in operation and our company currently works with many AAA youth hockey teams, elite players, International hockey associations, and private sports schools (PEAC), as well as putting on hockey camps and clinics. We have also partnered with Defense First Hockey School owned by Mike Weaver (current player of the Florida Panthers, NHL) to bring the best all around defense specific hockey school to the GTA.
(Take a peek at this video to find out more about Universal Hockey, and ‘Like’ UH on Facebook.)
Why did you start your business, what was the inspiration?
My inspiration is simple: I wanted to stay connected to the sport I love. Aiding in the development of future professional hockey players and giving back to the kids involved within the sport of hockey were key factors.
What is the best part of what you do on a day-to-day basis?
Being an influential part of our students achieving their dreams is a feeling that is hard to describe. We build close relationships with all our students and make sure they succeed; it’s paramount for us.
Where do you see your business going in 5 years?
Universal Hockey will be expanding to Uppsala, Sweden this Christmas season to host its first European Development Camp. We plan to aggressively target the European and Asian markets. The landscape for developing hockey players is different in Europe than North America. Elite private training is rare in Europe due to the fact that players are usually developed within their own club system while in North America parents and players look to hockey schools and coaches for extra development outside their club team. This presents a great opportunity for Universal Hockey to expand in areas where parents, players, club teams, and national associations are looking for new and exciting ways to develop the athlete. Universal Hockey is building brand awareness in these regions through promotional videos in several languages that display our on-ice services. Videos are available in English, Russian, Swedish, German, and Korean. Plans are also in the works for camps in Minsk, Belarus, Seoul, South Korea, and Moscow, Russia all in the near future.
What does success look like to you?
“You have achieved success when you can spend a long period doing nothing, learning nothing, and improving nothing, without feeling the slightest amount of guilt.”– Nassim Nicholas Taleb
What is the most memorable milestone in your career?
The first day I opened my business.
Do you have any advice for other young professionals?
Get a customer first. So many companies start without a solid idea of what customers really want. Find the customer, and the customer will help you perfect your product. If you don’t have a customer, you’re not a real business.
Do you support any charities? If so, which one(s) and why is that important to you?
I will be launching a new charity alongside the UJA to help under privileged kids in Israel and surrounding countries take part in subsidized sporting activities. Hockey being one of them. Keep up to date with our site, we’ll be releasing more information shortly.
What is Notable to you?
Being humble. Every time we think we’re smarter than anybody else, it blows up on us.
Blackberry, iPhone, Android, or Other?
Blackberry and iPhone…but iPhone is better.
How do you keep active, energetic, and vibrant?
Being on the ice 20 to 30 hours a week!