Eligbility: Scholastic hockey players (or student-athletes) who demonstrate integrity in athletics, academics, and their personal lives.
The word “integrity” has often been used to describe the short life of Mitchell Patrick Mielnik. Born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on January 18, 1999, Mitchell grew up in Old Hickory, Tennessee. He attended Metro Nashville Public Schools and was proud to be a student at Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School. A talented student and devoted friend, Mitchell’s passion was hockey. He was a defenseman for the Nashville Youth Hockey League, the A-Game Storm, the Nashville Junior Predators, and for the Hume-Fogg/Page High School PatriKnight Hockey team, where he wore #18.
Mitchell had been selected as a member of the Nashville Junior Predators U-16 team the day before entering the hospital, suddenly critically ill with a previously undiagnosed heart condition. Mitchell spent nearly a month in Vanderbilt University Medical Center and underwent several heart surgeries while awaiting a heart transplant. That day would never come. Mitchell passed away on June 30, 2015.
By establishing this scholarship fund, Mitchell’s family and friends wish to honor and remember his life and love of hockey, and to assist other scholastic hockey players (or student-athletes) who demonstrate integrity in athletics, academics, and their personal lives. #18foreverstrong
