It is not very often that Potosi High School gets a new student. In the summer of 2023, the class of 2025 found out that they were getting a new kid, but not really a new kid because his dad had grown up in Potosi. Nolan Pierce was the new name being talked about. He had joined the football team for the first time in his life, but he was also committed to so many other things before school even started.
In August, Pierce was adapting to the smaller-town life compared to his previous school in Verona, near Madison. He was going to football practices and getting to know his teammates, but he was also trying out for the Dubuque Junior Fighting Saints. Hockey was not something that was commonly thought about in Potosi, but Pierce brought a whole new light to it when he transferred.
Pierce first started playing hockey when he was six, but due to the cost that it takes to play hockey, he was only allowed to play street hockey. His parents quickly noticed his passion for the sport and allowed him to start ice hockey at age seven. The passion for hockey first started for Pierce when he went to a Dubuque Fighting Saints hockey game. Pierce said, “Ever since that one game, I have loved to watch and even play the sport.” Pierce has played on five teams since his newfound passion. The team he spent the most time on was at Verona High School, where he played for six years, but he has also played on the Cherrypickers, Verona High School team, and he currently plays for the Dubuque Junior Fighting Saints.
Even though this was Pierce's first year playing football, he did notice many differences between football and hockey. The one main difference that came to Pierce when he was asked was that when playing football you only have one game every Friday, but with hockey, there were times that he was playing up to six games Friday through Sunday. In playing both hockey and football, Pierce had little to no downtime, but he strived to do his best in school on top of it.
Pierce has adapted to living in Potosi very well over the past few months. The community has really helped him to feel welcome by supporting him in football and even hockey, with many students going to watch his hockey games. Overall Pierce has been a great new role model for the Potosi community and has shown kids that anything is possible, even playing two sports at once along with keeping up with school.