David Sharpe: Where are they now?
Vipers defenceman David Sharpe lifts the Bill Weir trophy after winning the GOJHL Western Conference Sun., April 11, 2010 in St. Thomas, Ontario. (Photo courtesy of David Sharpe)
Two-time Sutherland Cup champion David Sharpe has traded in his jersey and stick for a lab coat and scalpel.
The Windsor native played four seasons for the Vipers franchise, from 2006 - 2010, capturing the Jr. B championship with the Tecumseh Chiefs in 2008 and with the Vipers in 2010.
Sharpe was named the Western Conference Defenceman of the Year in 2010, posting 68 points in 49 regular season games, before adding another 22 in 16 playoff games and seven in eight Sutherland Cup games.
While he was patrolling the blue line for the Vipers, he was also studying kinesiology at the University of Windsor.
Following his graduation from the junior ranks, Sharpe transferred to Lake Forest College, just outside of Chicago, where he played three seasons of NCAA-DIII hockey.
"I knew I wanted to prevent and cure, rather than work on the rehabilitation side, so I hopped on the opportunity to go to Lake Forest, which has a wonderful pre-med program," Sharpe says.
In his second season with the Foresters, he was joined by fellow Vipers alumni and past Where are they now? featured player Bobby Barrett.
Sharpe graduated with honours in biology and chemistry, and was accepted into a pair of prestigious schools of medicine: Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., and Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
"I went with sunny south Florida," Sharpe jokes.
Sharpe helped lay the groundwork for his future success in LaSalle.
He credits his community involvement with the team and extracurricular volunteer work in helping him to become one of just 220 studetns accepted into the Nova school of medicine, out of nearly 7,000 applicants.
"I did hospital visits and other community events with the Vipers," he recalls. "I began shadowing an orthopedic surgeon, working as a student athlete trainer, interning at a rehab clinic and volunteering on the acute wing of a local hospital."
Sharpe freelanced as a licensed personal trainer and also worked for the CIty of Windsor department of Parks and Recreation. Working in hockey rinks and teaching classes eventually led him to start a summer hockey camp with fellow Viper DJ Turner.
Sharpe, now in his second year at Nova, is on track to graduate in 2018 with plans to specialize in internal medicine. He recently celebrated a year of marriage to his wife, a registered nurse at a hospital in Fort Lauderdale
