Josh DiCarlo Finds Success After Trading In His Hockey Stick For Golf Clubs, Intentionally

A few years back, Josh Josh DiCarlo hit the links when his hockey season ended, but DiCarlo permanently traded his stick for a putter. Most Canadians don’t make that choice on purpose when their hockey season ends, but DiCarlo had bigger plans.

The former Chatham Maroons forward recently completed his first season of NCAA golf at Wayne State University.

“Going into Wayne State University I didn’t really know what to expect being a college athlete,” said DiCarlo. “Going into the Fall season I was very fortunate and proud to be in the lineup as a freshman on a team with 6 seniors. We had a great fFll season as a team giving us the #1 seed in our conference. Our captain Brendan Seys who is a senior from Chatham-Kent had a great Fall and lead us tremendously. It was heartbreaking to get the news that our spring season was cancelled due to the pandemic with the great team we had. In the end I had a great first year at Wayne State and I am looking forward to the years to come.”

For DiCarlo, an Amherstburg product, he grew up playing ‘AAA’ hockey with the Sun County Panthers and Windsor Jr. Spitfires before splitting his lone Junior season between the Chatham Maroons and Amherstburg Admirals.

Going against the grain of many youth in Canada, DiCarlo dropped his hockey gloves, picked up his clubs, and didn’t look back; although the decision wasn’t easy.

“It was not an easy decision for me to hang up the skates to pursue my love of golf,” he explained. “I had a great first year of playing junior hockey for the Maroons and the Admirals and made many great friendships along the way. Growing up I always wanted to be a college athlete and when this opportunity came my way I took advantage of it. I love playing both Golf and Hockey and I do miss being around the the arena atmosphere for sure.”

DiCarlo qualified for OFSAA golf while attending General Amherst, and was Essex County’s top high school athlete, along with Amherst’s 2018 Male Athlete of the Year.

He joined a Wayne State Warriors team ripe with Chatham-Kent and Southwestern Ontario connected athletes including Brendan Seys (Port Lambton), Garret Day (Chatham), Carson McKinlay (Ridgetown), and Alex Saroli (LaSalle). They’ll also be joined by another Chatham golfer, Mat Hawryluk, who is committed to compete for Wayne State next year.

The familiarity of playing alongside a group of countrymen helped DiCarlo adapt in his freshman season.

“With Wayne State having a handful of Canadians and two of them being freshamn like myself it truly made me feel more comfortable to start the season. Having Brendan and Carson who are from Chatham-Kent there who have been apart of the Wayne state Golf team for a number of years now I looked up to them highly.”

DiCarlo competed in 6 events as a freshman, despite the spring season being cancelled, averaging 76.1, including a 12th place finish at the WSU HawksHead Invitational and a 16th place finish at the GVSU Don Underwood Invitational,

With a strong first campaign behind him, DiCarlo can no look toward a bigger year two.

“Some of my goals for my future at Wayne State are to be as great as a teammate I can possibly be. I hope one day to be a leader on the team and try and bring a championship to the Wayne State athletic department. I had a great first year and can not wait for the years to come.”