Last week, I sat down with Shamrocks’ captain, Carter Sproule. Carter Sproule grew up in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in a strong hockey community. Sproule’s parents did not play hockey, but he credits the people around him. Sproule said, “But thanks to the community and just family friends, I kinda got into hockey at an early age and fell in love with it from the start,”.
Sproule’s parents taught him more life lessons than skating lessons. Sproule said, “ My dad, he’s an extremely hard worker and, yeah, just kinda from an early age kinda preached at how important it was to work hard always, no matter what you’re doing. And then my mom just kind of always caring for others and her kindness,”. This advice has carried into his role as captain.
Sproule was chosen as the captain of the 2025-26 Shamrocks after playing here last season. He knows what a leadership role like this means. Sproule said, “It’s super cool. It’s an honor. Something I take a lot of pride in, being a leader for this team…It’s kinda hard to put into words, but, yeah, it means a lot to me,”.
Despite the importance of this role, Sproule is focused on being a teammate first and remembering that each individual has their own unique identity. Sproule said, “You just kinda be yourself and not try to be someone you’re not. You can obviously learn from captains that you’ve had prior, for sure. And take stuff from them, but ultimately, you kinda have to be yourself,”.
Sproule enters this season as a third-year NAHL player. He started his career in Oklahoma two years ago, then, early last season, was traded here to Watertown. Sproule believes that in that time, he has grown as a player in more ways than one. Sproule said, “I think for me, it’s been my confidence just in myself as a player and then obviously just kinda being older and being a veteran player, playing in the league for a couple years, you kind of get better details within your game. In in all aspects, you just kinda grow,”.
In terms of the community of Watertown, Sproule knows the impact they have on the Shamrocks as a team. Sproule said, “It for sure means a ton to me… I think we have the best fans in the league and the town, and the support that we get from the community is super cool. And, I love how we get the opportunity to also kinda repay that back with all the volunteering that we get to do within the schools and the youth teams and all that,”.
Thank you to Carter for sitting down with me this week!
By Lily Schutzenhofer