94-year-old plays hockey every week

For anyone that loves and plays sports, the dream is to keep playing as long as possible.

For Duluth, Minnesota resident Mark Sertich that age is 94 (and still counting).

He makes it out on the ice 3-4 times per week in a regular league.  And the video below shows him in action at the Snoopy’s Senior World Tournament when he was a spry 88.

But don’t assume that just because he doesn’t play in a checking league that injuries don’t happen.

The Duluth News Tribune found out otherwise:

Injuries can end a season or career for a hockey player in their teens or 20s, but just weeks after Mark Sertich broke a rib and punctured a lung in an on-ice collision, he was out on the rink Wednesday — at age 94.

Why does he still enjoy playing hockey?

“I really enjoy getting out there with the guys and the companionship and the chance to get to mingle with younger people — that’s important for me,” Sertich said.

Sertich has lived independently in his West Duluth home since his wife, Virginia, passed away in 2004. He still cooks, mows, shovels and drives for himself. Although his seven children don’t need to check on him constantly, they’ll stop by for coffee from time to time, said his son Mick, 60.

Each year, Mark Sertich attends the Snoopy’s Senior World Hockey Tournament in Santa Rosa, Calif., to play with guys in their 70s or a little older. That’s where he met and befriended the late Charles Schulz, the “Peanuts” cartoonist and Minnesota native who also was a devoted hockey fan. Despite his injury last month, Sertich played in the tournament again earlier this month.

“He’s not just doddering around out there; he’s actually playing a pretty good game,” Dane Youngblom said Wednesday. Youngblom, a retired Duluth firefighter, organized the group more than 30 years ago. Although Sertich, who was 60 at the time, was never a firefighter, he joined the group as a way to get more ice time.

“He’s played so many days in a row that he’s gotten really good over the years,” Youngblom said, describing Sertich’s puck-handling skills.

Now that is a pretty phenomenal guy.  I wanna be like Mark when I’m 94.

Video below of his Snoopy’s tournament at age 88…

Image courtesy of the Duluth News Tribune.