On Sept. 8, 2022, Frank Zawrazky, Loyola Chicago student and New Trier alum, achieved his lifelong dream. He became a hockey color commentator.  He now works games for the USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks. 

Zawrazky worked as the play-by-play commentator for the vast majority of his time in Muskegon before recently switching to color.

Zawrasky’s  life might seem chaotic to most people.

On average, he spends 4 hours commuting one-way from Chicago to Muskegon. He can’t work full time for the team because he is still a college student. While the commute alone seems fatiguing enough, it is not the only struggle in his life.

“I am the only openly autistic hockey broadcaster. I was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at 10 years old and I always thought autism was a dirty word until I saw other people doing their own things and making accomplishments. Autism doesn’t have a box you need to fit into,” said Zawrazky.

Zawrazky refuses to let the opinions of others and stereotypes of people on the spectrum impact the pursuit of a career in the entertainment industry, and even uses these doubts as motivation in many instances. 

Zawrazky  plans to use his story as a way to change public opinion and help eliminate the skepticism against people on the spectrum in the entertainment and sports industry. 

During his time at New Trier, Zawrazky participated in a variety of extracurriculars.  One of the most significant for Zawrazky was New Trier News and radio-broadcasting. 

Zawrazky attributes a great portion of his success to the experiences and opportunities available to him at New Trier.

 “The fact that New Trier had a radio station allowed me to make a lot of stupid mistakes in high school, rather than making them in college. I’m ahead of the curve,” said Zawrazky. 

Not only was Zawrazky a member of academic extracurricular activities like broadcasting, but he was an athlete for a short period as well. Unfortunately, Frank’s athletic career was suddenly cut short due to injuries.

“In wrestling practice, a teammate of mine unintentionally threw me on my head a few times and damaged the vestibular nerve in my left eye,” said Zawrazky. 

Zawrazky’s passion and commitment to the  wrestling  team drove him to complete the remainder of  his season before he then received the tragic news that  ended his athletic career indefinitely.

“I found out I could never wrestle again for the safety of my brain, which led me to start a talk show my junior year called the Tomahawk Roundup,” said Zawrazky. 

The ending of  Zawrazky’s wrestling career led him  to dedicate his new free time towards pursuing broadcasting and journalism. 

This was one of many hardships undergone by Zawrazky throughout his journey to success. 

Throughout the entirety of Zawrazky’s long and eventful journey towards his commentating career, he kept his eyes on the prize and never let the doubts of others interfere with his efforts.

“As my wrestling coach once said, I’m not going to teach you how to wrestle, I’m going to teach you how to outwork your opponent. Yes you may be naturally gifted at something, but if that gift is not honed, it will be nothing but just a gift,” said Zawrazky.