Whiz Kid: Braydon Seaburg

Name: Braydon Seaburg

Age: 10

School: Wilcoxson Elementary

Accomplishments: As a finalist in Wilcoxson Elementary School’s Speak Loud, Speak Proud contest, Braydon wrote about a place he knows well: the skating rinks at the SportsCenter in Shelton.

“Did you know that they are the only double-decker rinks in North America? Or that it cost over $3 million dollars to build? It is 89,000 square feet," said Braydon. “I think it should be a national monument.”

Braydon plays ice hockey on the River Hawks squirt B travel team at the rinks in Shelton. He said that he likes ice hockey as “it keeps you focused because you’re always thinking while you’re playing, and there’s always room for improvement.” Braydon has played in tournaments all over New England and said that “it's fun to hang out in a hotel with your friends.”

Last year, his ice hockey team won a Thanksgiving tournament. And for the last two years, Braydon has won the Sportsmanship Award. “It was a big honor as my dad always wants me to get better and sportsmanship is one of the most important things in sports,” said Braydon.

During the Thanksgiving tournament, his River Hawks team collected and donated games and toys to underprivileged children in the area.

This theme of generosity was continued later in the year, when, instead of giving each other holiday gifts, his ice hockey team members donated books to an inner-city Bridgeport school.

Off the ice, Braydon plays catcher and first baseman for the Cal Ripken baseball team in Stratford. He is also a member of the Stratford Titans travel team. He was also a member of a local U-10 All-Star baseball team, which placed second in the district last year.

Off the sporting rink and field, Braydon enjoys the theatre. This year, he played Drake in Wilcoxson’s production of "Annie Jr."

"It was really fun," said Braydon of his experience in the production. "I met a lot of new kids and had fun doing the dances. It is a great play.”

At school, Braydon’s favorite subjects are science because he likes the hands-on experiments, and social studies “because I like learning about U.S. history." He is looking forward to going to 5th grade this fall -- even though his future teacher roots for another baseball team.

“It’s funny,” said Braydon, “I am a Yankees fan, my 5th-grade teacher is a Red Sox fan, and my dad who is also a teacher [in another town] is a Mets fan.”

Key to Awesomeness: Braydon said that his mom and dad are his primary inspirations as they taught him everything he knows.

Derek Jeter is his role model because he does a lot of community work with underprivileged kids, Braydon said, adding that he feels it's "good to be involved and help people.”

Braydon's former ice hockey coach, Rick Clifford, taught him that “hard work always pays off,” he said

Braydon has two personal mottos.

“Everything happens for a reason,” he said was the first one, explaining that last year he didn’t make the higher level ice hockey team, but he still had a great season personally and his team did really well.

And the second motto: "Life isn't fair." He said it's important to realize "you can’t always get what you want [and] everything isn’t just made for you and you have to adjust to that.”

Do you know Braydon? Congratulate him in the comments section below.