Reaching Goals
Ryan Zanon plays hard and works hard.
He scored his first hockey goal at age seven and he has been setting and reaching his life goals ever since. Today, Ryan is enjoying his work overseeing operations at the Nicholas Sportsplex, a position he has been training for his entire life.
The six-year-old boy knew he was somewhere special. This particular morning, he went with his parents to watch his older brother start an introductory hockey course. Although it was his first time in an ice rink, he felt like he belonged. So much so, that by the time the next class started, Ryan Zanon left his parents’ side in the bleachers and joined his brother on the ice. One year later, both boys were playing organized hockey. “I craved instruction and I appreciated the positive reinforcement from the coaches,” Ryan recalled.
Park district hockey provided Ryan the opportunity to play a variety of positions. While he started as a forward, he eventually became a defenseman. “I found success at both positions, so then I became a center,” Ryan said. His variety of experiences helped him make the Notre Dame High School junior varsity hockey team his freshman year. As a sophomore, Ryan played on both the junior varsity and varsity teams, and still found time to share his passion with others as a part-time employee at the local park district ice rink. Ryan coached classes, worked the front desk, served as a skate guard and ran summer hockey camps. “It’s fun, it’s high intensity, and it’s fast paced,” Ryan explained. “There is no other sport like it.”
Senior year, Ryan, a hockey team captain, helped his team win the high school state championship in its respective division. Ryan achieved similar success in college on Marquette University’s Division III club team. Junior year, Ryan and his team made it to nationals for the first time in the school’s history and it was Ryan’s goal in overtime that got them there.
After graduating college with a teaching degree with an emphasis in Spanish, Ryan gravitated back to his high school alma mater as a teacher and, not surprisingly, an assistant hockey coach.
We Came to Play
During his second year of teaching, Ryan’s father prompted him to attend a Thanksgiving hockey tournament to cheer on his employer’s son. Two years earlier, Ryan’s father began working at one of the Nicholas family of companies. The company president, Nick Papanicholas Jr., was going to be at the tournament to watch his son play hockey.
Following introductions, Nick laid out a plan that he and his family had concocted two days earlier after Thanksgiving dinner. Finding available ice time in the area was difficult, and a new arena would create more opportunities for people of all ages to enjoy the sport. Nick took out a napkin upon which was a sketch of an arena consisting of two ice rinks, and he asked Ryan for his feedback. “I think Nick just wanted affirmation from a hockey guy,” Ryan explained. “I remember meeting Nick, a friendly handshake, his big personality, him showing me the napkin and asking what I thought, and then me having to leave. It was very informal.”
A few months after that brief meeting, Nick reached out to Ryan, this time asking him if he would be interested in becoming the assistant general manager of a new ice arena that was going to be built in a vacant credit card processing facility in Mount Prospect, Illinois. “Nick definitely had the whole thing planned out in his head,” Ryan explained. “I’ve come to learn that that is how things happen here. It starts with an idea and then, voila, next thing you know we have architect drawings.”
It was not until after another two months that Ryan accepted the new role at the Mount Prospect Ice Arena (MPIA). Ryan admitted that he struggled with the decision because he really enjoyed his teaching career. “I came to the realization that I was ready for something bigger and this seemed like it was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Ryan said. Just two years later, Ryan assumed a leadership role at MPIA as the manager of operations and program scheduling.
Heart of Fire & Veins of Ice
MPIA has continued to evolve. During the summer of 2021, MPIA became a part of the Sportsplex, which also incorporated a third ice rink, a synthetic ice training rink, and synthetic turf sports fields all into the Sportsplex campus. “The vision keeps growing as does the market,” Ryan said. “Working in the youth sports industry keeps you on your toes. It’s a people-first business focused on building and maintaining relationships through great service, positive experiences, and strong communication.”
Growing up playing and working in an ice rink has made Ryan’s transition to the Nicholas Sportsplex a natural fit. “To work in an environment that has brought me such great joy throughout my life and helped define who I am as a person today is a very special feeling,” Ryan explained. “I may not competitively play hockey anymore, but I like to think that I’m giving back to the sport in a way that will help create the same experience and feelings for those who walk through our doors. There is so much emotion involved.”
For Ryan, that emotion resonates with him every time he enters the ice rink.
“I breathe in the cool air and am embraced by the briskness. I hear the fans, the crowd, the coaches, the officials’ whistles, the puck hitting the glass, the boards being banged against, and families talking and connecting. I smell the gear, the crisp air, and the brick pizza ovens,” Ryan said. “It just feels like home.”