SAINT PAUL, Minn. — When the snow flies in Minnesota, Eric Denhardt, a first-year Hamline football player, trades his cleats for boots, a board and a snow-covered hill.

The Eden Prairie native, who was open-enrolled to school in Minnetonka, knew at a young age that football was the sport he wanted to play. "I always wanted to play football when I was young," said Denhardt. After asking his dad about playing the year before, he started tackle football in third grade.

By fifth grade, snowboarding had piqued his interest. "I literally just told my dad I wanted to snowboard." His mom was originally against the idea, so his parents decided to have him ski for half a season to get on the snow. "The next season I started snowboarding. And that was all because of my dad. [My dad] convinced my mom to let me snowboard, and I just kept snowboarding," he recalled.

Snowboarding quickly became a passion, and that passion turned into a competitive talent. Denhardt joined G-Team, a premier snowboarding team in Minnesota, to train and compete. In his first season, he began competing in United States of America Snowboarding Association (USASA) Upper Midwest Snow Series events, where riders earned points that could send them to Nationals. He made it to Nationals in his first season of competition, placing 14th in his group.

During his freshman year, his improvement continued to grow, and he began climbing the rankings. He placed first for the first time in back-to-back USASA Rail Jam events in Open Class, the highest level of competition. Denhardt also earned the opportunity to join the Futures
Tour, which features the top-ranked snowboarding and skiing athletes in championship events across the country. Unfortunately, a high-risk sport brings the potential for injury. "I broke my collarbone the day before I was supposed to leave for Utah to go to that tour, which is one step higher than nationals," said Denhardt. Though he had to miss the Futures Tour that season, he remained determined to heal in time for Nationals. With the
help of his doctor, who also had a daughter in competitive skiing, he was back on the slopes five weeks after surgery. "I think I rode two days on the hill and then immediately got on a plane to Colorado." He placed in the top 10 in 13 of the 14 events that season, including a seventh-place finish in slopestyle at Nationals.

As a sophomore, Denhardt was fully healthy and able to make his first official Futures Tour appearance. Trips to Utah and Vermont were booked, and he was excited to compete at such a high level with his friends. He made it to the finals in Utah, placing third overall in his slopestyle division.

Denhardt's consistency began to show during his junior year. He placed in the top three in each of the first eight USASA events of the season, including three first-place finishes, before his first stop on the Futures Tour. The success continued on tour. "I got 2nd at Future's Tour…in Vermont, which then got me a Rev Tour spot [for the next season]," said Denhardt.

Traveling became a major part of Denhardt's senior season. With spots on both the Futures Tour and the Rev Tour, he rode in places he had never been, including Mammoth Mountain in California and Copper Mountain in Colorado. He also competed in the Air Nation NORAM Slopestyle in Quebec, Canada, and at the Futures Tour stop in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, all within a three-month span. Despite eight top-10 finishes and a season spent learning new skills, Denhardt began to feel burned out on competition near the end of the year. "[Competing] was fun, but it was just to the point where…I was like, this isn't me anymore," he remarked.

He said it really hit him when his high school hockey team made the state tournament and the weather was perfect for snowboarding during the section finals. "We're like, what do you want to learn today? I'm like, I don't really want to learn anything today. I just want to snowboard. And I realized, I don't know when the last time I just went snowboarding [for fun] was. And that's when I kind of was like, dang, I love snowboarding, but I don't know how much I love competing and doing all these tricks anymore." His love of snowboarding was still there, but the demands and stress of competition were no longer enjoyable.

With the season over, it was time to start thinking about college. "My mom thought I'd go somewhere else," Denhardt said. "I thought about Utah, of course. I thought about Colorado." 

He ultimately chose Hamline because it offered the chance to play Division III football while staying close enough to his hometown hills to snowboard in the winter, allowing him to continue both sports he loves. "It's been pretty nice being a student-athlete," Denhardt stated. Getting to now live as a first year college student and Division III student-athlete, balancing that workload is enough and now snowboarding can be something that he goes out to enjoy for fun during the beautiful Minnesota winter days. 

As for football, his coaches have enjoyed having him on the field and with the team this season. "Eric has been a bright spot on our team all season," first year Head Coach Bob Davies is quoted saying, "He comes from great parents and I admire his commitment to his family, his faith, his football, and his academics. We're glad he's at Hamline!"