Humboldt's Will Eichorst made a difficult decision to walk away from his final year of minor hockey eligibility but that choice has allowed him to play a vital role in plenty of other contests.

The 18 year-old Humboldt Collegiate Institute grad is really beginning to climb the ranks as an official.

Earlier on this year he had a chance to work the lines at a SaskFirst bantam tournament including the final but another tournament coming up in Saskatoon will be another feather in his cap.

"I got selected to go and be one of the five linesmen and ten officials to go to the Telus Cup Regionals in Saskatoon," he explained on Tuesday afternoon.

The tournament features the host Saskatoon Contacts, the AAA Midget Notre Dame Hounds, the Winnipeg Wild and the Kenora Thistles. The winner will move on to the Telus Cup national championship.

"That is a big opportunity for me," Eichorst added. "I'm super excited, a little bit nervous but definitely excited about the opportunity."

Eichorst will be somewhat familiar with the Hounds team, he was working the decisive game five of the Saskatchewan AAA Midget final in Tisdale when the Hounds knocked out the Trojans.

"There was lots of Notre Dame fans there too which was great to see. It was very loud in the game, you couldn't hear what call was being made, what player is getting a penalty because it was just so loud. It was such a great atmosphere to be a part of and it's definitely a huge game in my career and I hope there's many more games like that."

Eichorst is currently taking courses at St. Peter's College in Muenster, he will move to the Bridge City next year to attend the University of Saskatchewan and continue towards his agriculture degree but perhaps with continued efforts and the desire, the career in the ag sector could wait.

"The pay cheques are definitely helping with school but yeah, I have looked into this as a career. I am always saying I want to get done my school just in case so I have something to fall back on but definitely something I am looking towards. Getting into the Western Hockey League and if I get into that who knows what will happen."

The regional tournament in Saskatoon begins Thursday.

You can hear more from Eichorst below in his interview with Bolt FM's Clark Stork.