I’m sure most of the people in this world have at one point in their lives heard of the phrase “fountain of youth” uttered from the lips of others or their own.

It’s a phrase that once was thought to actually be a real thing back in days of Columbus, but now just simply a phrase.

It is now a phrase that to some elicits yearning for ones younger years or to others an opportunity to look younger. Such a phrase as this hasn’t really entered the sporting world that often although it has seen its time in the college ranks.

The trend of offering very young athletes (some who haven’t even hit high school yet) promises for scholarships to play college sports seems to be on the rise and recently the college hockey world joined in.

The “fountain of youth” phrase of the week belongs to a 13-year old hockey player named Anthony Cipollone, who verbally committed to the University of Vermont hockey program. This would make him the youngest known individual to have committed to a Division-1 college hockey program.

He may only be 119 pounds and just as tall as King James’s (LeBron James) throne chair but this lefty shooting forward seems to have caught the eyes of the Vermont University hockey program with his young skill filled with potential.

For those of you Vermont hockey fans who are chomping at the bit to get a look at this potential young phenom play in the college ranks, you’ll have to step out of the starting gate and wait five years before he is of legal age to actually sign.

It seems as though the fountain of youth has continued to make its way into the sporting world with another sport. From what I’ve been witnessing I wouldn’t be surprised to see sports all across the college world adopt the fountain of youth mentality and pluck these gifted young athletes right out of their childhood. Only time will tell, and I for one am excited to see how it unfolds.


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