Blades GM Heitkamp heads his former team
Former Steele County Blade player and current general manager Spencer Heitkamp skates down the ice for the Blades during his playing days. Heitkamp played two seasons for Steele County in 2015-16 and 2016-17and was named the team’s general manager on July 1 of this year. Submitted photo
Current Steele County General Manager Spencer Heitkamp is no stranger to the orange, black and white of the Blades as he overlooks hockey operations for the team that he himself was once a part of as an athlete.
Having grown up in Waseca and competed for the Blades during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, Heitkamp is no stranger to the area and has goals of giving back to the community that helped grow his hockey career.
“I got into sports management because, being an athlete in the past, I relied on others to provide sports for me. Now, I want to give the gift of sports back to athletes in any possible,” said Heitkamp.
After graduating from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management, Heitkamp returned to Steele County to help as a marketing intern for the team before working his way up and being promoted to general manager on July 1 of this year.
At just 23 years old, Heitkamp is one of the youngest general managers in the United States Premiere Hockey League, something the first-year skipper believes works in his advantage.
“I’m really enjoying it a lot being one of the younger guys in my position. I think I’m able to bring some really good new skills and ideas to the table. Sometimes the other guys are a little bit shocked by my age, but I’ve been enjoying it and learning a ton of new parts of the business to grow my knowledge.”
While Blades Head Coach Nick Adamek may be the man behind the bench dictating the team’s tactics on the ice, Heitkamp is the man behind the scenes pulling the strings to make sure the Blades are able to perform for fans on a nightly basis.
According to Heitkamp, a normal day as a general manager is a mixture of marketing the team, making sure logistics such as travel and athlete availability are accounted for, as well as making sure that game day events go smoothly from start to finish.
While it may sound like a lot of responsibility for one man, one notion that Heitkamp reiterates about his daily schedule is this: He’s right where he wants to be.
“You just never really know what you’re going to end up doing when you grow up, but I’ve loved every minute of being with the Steele County Blades organization. Much like many others in my position who love the game, my dream is to eventually work my way up in the hockey world and be a manager for a professional team.”
Heitkamp and the Blades will return to action after the holiday season when Steele County travels to Wisconsin to square off against the Dells Ducks on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 7:30 p.m.