The Zionsville Hockey Club manager spent 20 years in the Navy. On Veterans Day, he thinks about those who served before him, the friends he lost and the sacrifices families make along the way.
Jake and Don Barnes | Courtesy Photo
Don Barnes brings two bags to Zionsville Hockey Club games. One goes in the locker room. The other, with a tool kit inside, stays with him. He gets the GameSheet ready on the iPad. Depending on the game, he might work the penalty box or keep score.
Afterward, he checks to make sure the sheet is accurate and signed, and uploads it. That’s the part of the job most people at the rink rarely see. In Barnes’s words, “All of the paperwork!”
His son Jake, a junior at Western Boone High School who plays right wing for Zionsville, sees another side of the job.
“Any teammate could ask him for advice or help no matter what and he’d be willing to give it,” Jake said.
On top of managing the Zionsville Hockey Club, Barnes is a U.S. Navy veteran and an Assistant Professor of Practice of Aeronautical Engineering Technology in the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology at Purdue University in West Lafayette.
He sees some irony in where he ended up. One reason he joined the Navy, he said, was that “there was no way I was getting into college.”
The other was family. Barnes followed his father’s and two brothers’ lead when he enlisted in 1986. He was an aviation electrician and spent 17 of his 20 years in the Navy as a naval aircrewman, flying as a flight engineer on the E-6 Mercury.
Left: Don Barnes, Middle: Don's father and Don, Right: Don's father
Jake was about 12 when he started to understand what his dad had done in the Navy. Over time, he began to see how the advice his dad gave him could apply to whatever he was dealing with.
A mentor Barnes met when he first started flying taught him “to not worry about the things out of my control.” They still talk every day. Barnes passed that lesson on to Jake, who remembers getting caught up in things he couldn’t control during his house league games.
“He always told me to keep my head and focus on where my feet were,” Jake said. “It’s not something you can pick up easily, but with time, it shifts your mindset on things.”
Barnes coached Jake during his first two years with the Indy Jr. Fuel. What Jake remembers from those years is going to stick-and-puck sessions with his dad.
Once Jake was playing for Zionsville, Barnes took over the role as team manager and his wife took over the club's schedule.
“I wanted to stay involved, but not as a coach,” Barnes said.
That role has given him a close look at how the players push through, especially when fatigue sets in late in a long weekend.
"It's the resiliency and dedication these kids have," Barnes said. “Watching them never give up even when it’s their fourth game in three days is incredible to watch.”
Barnes has spent years sharing lessons from his own experiences. At the rink, the players offer him a reminder of what it means to keep showing up and giving your best.
Jake notices the effort his dad brings to those weekends, too.
“I think the main thing I’ve learned from how he shows up for ZHC is how no matter what, he always puts full effort into whatever he’s doing,” Jake said.
On Veterans Day, Barnes said he thinks about the people who served before him, the sacrifices his own family made and the “friends that gave everything.” He thinks about those in uniform now and what they’re going through.
“I am proud to have served our country and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to do so,” he said.
For Jake, his dad’s service lives on in the lessons he shares and the support he gives their family — something he wants his father to know he doesn’t take for granted.
"I appreciate how much he’s done for my family," Jake said. "And how he can continuously instill advice into me from his experiences in the Navy and in life."
Don, thank you for your years in the Navy and for the time you give the players, coaches and families at Zionsville. To the veterans in our hockey community and beyond, to those serving now, and to the families who share in that sacrifice, thank you.