Stacks of clean towels sit folded on a table in front of Binghamton equipment manager Tyler Zweig. All by himself on a Sunday afternoon, he holds dominion over the Events Center's equipment room.
 
A day earlier, the arena held hundreds of Bearcats fans who cheered on the Binghamton women's basketball and wrestling teams. Now, after the intensity of competition has passed, it's Zweig's responsibility to get everything back to normal.
  In the next room over, laundry machines spin to wash and dry dozens of basketball jerseys and wrestling singlets. Some of the apparel requires extra attention, which Zweig attends to at the sewing machine. Stitching on nameplates needs to be repaired before the uniforms are put on hangers to be stored away.
 
There is also a rarity for Zweig on this day. A man who usually gravitates towards the nearest hockey rink isn't in the mood to grab a stick and shoot a puck. He needs the energy to complete his work.
 
When Zweig does have the desire to lace up a pair of skates, you will find him at one of the area rinks playing the sport recreationally. On a weekly basis, he continues to fulfill a passion that dates back to his childhood.
 
"Three to four times a week," Zweig responds when asked how often he plays.
 
Seeing him play hockey in an area that adores the game and produced professional players such as Jerry D'Amigo and Mike Dunham is no surprise. But Zweig knows his background is not the same as many other players. And he sees an opportunity to help bring change to the sport he cares about.
             
An opportunity is what Barb and Jim Zweig were looking for. They made attempts over the course of many years to have a child of their own. Each try proved unsuccessful. Eventually, the two began to look at other options.
 
"We weren't the type, at least I never thought we were, that felt it had to be our own biological [child]," Barb says.
 
Barb later learned about a co-worker who adopted a child from Colombia. Through that connection, the couple was connected with an adoption agency. In 1994, when Barb and Jim made it to an orphanage in Medellín, Colombia, they adopted Tyler. 18 months later, the couple returned to the orphanage and adopted another boy from a different birth mother named Nate.
 
The Zweigs began their journey as a family in Binghamton. Unbeknownst to Nate and Tyler, their father's connection to the ice would soon steer them towards a new love.
 
"As a kid growing up, we all figure skated as 3, 4, and 5-year olds," says Jim. "So skating was always in our blood."
 
Jim eventually changed course to hockey, going on to ultimately play for SUNY Broome Community College's first hockey team in 1975 alongside his twin brother Mark. After he completed his playing career, Jim encouraged his sons to follow in his footsteps.
 
"Our Dad loves hockey…hockey has been part of his life, so we kind of took in what he loves to do," Tyler says.
 
"They had hockey sticks and recycle bins, and at three and four, they were in the basement whacking balls and pucks around," says Jim, who set up a makeshift rink in the family's basement.
 
A regulation net was later installed, leading to more chaos.
 
"They would hit the post, and the puck would hit the first floor upstairs and break a lightbulb and ricochet around the basement," Jim reminisces. "It was pretty crazy."
 
"There was insulation on, but there were puck holes all over the place," says Barb.
 
Even though some items in the Zweig household may have not survived the boys' training, the two brothers made sure to find creative ways to improve their skills.
 
"Tyler and I always wanted to work on something," says Nate. "We would figure out little games, whether it was to put a water bottle on a string, hang it from a net, and try to shoot at it, or work on passing or one-timers or something. I think that was probably the most enjoyable part was always trying to find some little game to work on or get better at."
 
The games in the Zweig's basement evolved into roller hockey on their driveway. The boys eventually took the ice together as teammates with Jim coaching them.

 
As both brothers gained more experience, a certain dynamic between the two developed.
 
"My brother and I loved to challenge each other growing up," says Tyler. "Who can stickhandle the fastest? Who can get the most touches over the puck? Who can be the quickest?"
 
"At the time, they didn't feel all that competitive to me, even though I definitely wanted to win," Nate mentions. "To me, it just felt like a game. But I guess, in the end, trying to beat Tyler in those challenges is what helped me get better."
 
That competitiveness with each other would take a back seat whenever the duo played together.
 
"Over the years growing up, he was always looking out for me because I was a faster skater and he was this big guy," Nate says about Tyler. "Even when we were younger, I was relatively small. So whenever I would get hit or get bounced around, Tyler was always there to back me up or to go after the guy. So it just meant something special to me."
 
"We did battle, but it was just more of a way of us getting better not only as hockey players, but better as humans and then also as brothers," Tyler says.
 
As Tyler's career progressed, he realized there was a different battle he would have to face.
   
Over the years, the game of hockey has seen limited growth in diversity, particularly at its highest level. In 2022, the National Hockey League published a report focused on its diversity and inclusion and how to improve it. In the report, a survey found that nearly 84% of employees across the NHL and its clubs identified as white. Less than 4% identify as Hispanic/Latino.
 
Several factors have been attributed to why this is the case, ranging from expensive equipment, to a lack of ice rinks in certain areas, and a history of players of color facing racist abuse, whether it be in person or on social media.
 
When Tyler began playing travel hockey with Nate, it crossed his mind that he was not the same as most of the other players on the rink.
 
"When we traveled to places, people always assumed my brother and I shouldn't be playing this sport or we're not going to be good at it," Tyler recalls.
 
Suddenly, the games became an opportunity for Tyler and Nate to prove that they belonged.
 
"The next thing you know, we open up these people's eyes [and show them] we're good at hockey," Tyler adds.
 
Despite fighting off that perception from fans, neither brother recalls having to deal with much, if any, forms of racism while playing. Tyler credits his father's reputation for helping him earn respect from others. Nate has another theory.
 
"Hockey players, I think, are one big breed," he says. "We're all kind of the same. Whatever team we went to, it was pretty easy to get along with everybody."
 
While some may have noticed some differences between the parents and children, Barb and Jim never thought of their two sons as adopted.
 
"One time, we were in the airport with Tyler, and somebody stopped me," Barb says. "It was in the bathroom. And they said 'What nationality is your son?' And I never thought about him being Colombian."
 
"They took it all in stride," she adds.
   
Tyler ultimately followed in his father's footsteps by hitting the ice for SUNY Broome from 2012 until halfway through the 2014-15 season. By that point, he was ready to stop playing hockey competitively and move on to another interest of his that had been developing since his childhood.
 
"Just from watching NHL and MLB games, [I wondered] 'why do players wear this or why do they have this or what is the purpose of this," Tyler says.
 
As part of what he described as his own science experiment, Tyler asked his parents to buy him different pieces of sports equipment. From helmets to sticks, Tyler collected items from different brands to study. He evaluated every detail to learn what made a Nike hockey stick different from an Easton stick. He pondered why one baseball player would use a tan bat while another would swing with a black one. He became intrigued with the world of sports equipment management.
 
"He's been like that with every sport and everything having to do with equipment," says Barb. "Baseball, golf, whatever."
  Tyler transferred to SUNY Brockport, and while continuing to play hockey on the club team, he studied to earn his bachelor's degree in sport management and a minor in coaching. With his degree in hand, Tyler began his journey as an equipment manager. His path included stops with the Binghamton Senators, Rochester Americans, Rochester Red Wings, Binghamton Devils, and Binghamton Black Bears. All while continuing to play hockey on the side.
 
During his stint with the Black Bears, however, Zweig got an unexpected opportunity.
 
In the middle of the 2021-22 season, more than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic halted many aspects of everyday life, including sports, everything appeared to be returning to normal. Games were once again being played, with Tyler standing by on the team's bench ready to help. But on Nov. 24, 2021, things changed.
 
Earlier in the week, a handful of Black Bears players tested positive for COVID-19. Facing the possibility that the team would need to find replacements, Tyler volunteered himself and Nate to Head Coach Rod Davidson. When gameday arrived, Tyler got the news that he had a chance to suit up and play for the Black Bears.
 
Before accepting the offer, he first called Nate to see if he wanted to join. The younger Zweig had not played as often since graduating from SUNY Potsdam in 2020 following a four-year career with the Bears.
 
"I just didn't feel like it was the right time to commit, especially with my professional responsibilities taking priority," Nate says. "It was a tough decision, but in the end, I had to prioritize what I felt was most important at that moment."
 
After Nate declined the invitation, Tyler went back to Davidson to deliver the news.
 
"He said 'well, go get your gear," Tyler recalls.
Tyler grabbed his equipment out of his car and took it to the locker room. He then went and picked out the number 19 jersey to wear, the same number Nate had worn. All of a sudden, Tyler's phone rang. It was Barb, who was celebrating her birthday. She had learned what happened from Nate. When Tyler confirmed his upcoming opportunity, the Zweigs moved quickly to gather as many family and friends as possible to watch him play.
 
The group made it to the rink in time to catch Tyler stepping onto the ice for his hometown team. For his father and former coach, watching his son play brought back many memories.
 
"It was pretty special," says Jim. "He was out there doing the typical Tyler thing where he thought he had to be the policeman for the team, hitting guys and making sure the goalie was protected and shoving guys around."
 
Tyler feels there was something special about his experience that day. Something that would not surprise anyone when they are reminded that he is an equipment manager.
 
"Watching professional hockey players, they wear visors and everything," says Tyler. "Growing up, you had to play with a cage on, and then playing college hockey, I had to play with a cage on. So the only time I would ever have to wear a visor, maybe, is playing in a men's league. But definitely the whirlwind of it was being able to wear a visor."
 
Tyler got the chance to live out a childhood dream of his. It would not be the last time he got to play on such a prominent stage.
  One day in 2022, Tyler brought up his life story to Black Bears goalie Joe Sheppard. When Sheppard discovered that Zweig was adopted from Colombia, he mentioned that he had a few friends who play for the Colombian national team. He then recommended that Tyler reach out to one of them to see if he could play in the LATAM Cup.
 
"What's the LATAM Cup?" Tyler asked.
 
The Amerigol LATAM Cup was created in 2018 to showcase the talent of hockey players from different countries in Latin America. What began as a tournament featuring five teams and 92 players has since grown to include more than 1,100 players on 52 teams playing at the Florida Panthers' practice facility in Coral Springs. Along with countries and territories from Latin America, the event now has teams from other parts of the world competing, including Africa and the Middle East.
 
Tyler ultimately emailed the team in late 2022 asking if it was possible for him and Nate to join. Months went by with no response.
 
Finally, in the spring of 2023, Tyler got a response from the team, saying it was possible for the brothers to play for them in the 2023 LATAM Cup. But at that point, Tyler was in the process of changing jobs and Nate was preparing to move to Virginia. Neither was able to take part in the tournament. Still, the opportunity to help grow the game kept Tyler and Nate interested in playing for the team in the future.
 
Tyler set his sights on 2024. He reached out to the team once again. Eventually, he and Nate got an invitation.
 
"I still have that email just because it was kind of sentimental to me because not only do we get to play for the country we were from, but also, I get to do it with my brother playing the sport that we both love," Tyler says.
 
For Nate, this chance to reunite on the ice with his brother was too good to pass up.
 
"When the opportunity to play with Tyler at the LATAM Cup came up, I was excited not just because of the tournament, but also because it felt like a chance to reconnect with Tyler on the ice," Nate says.
 

The duo traveled to South Florida for the tournament in August of 2024. When they arrived, the competition turned into an educational experience for not only the two of them, but their new teammates as well.
 
"When these guys met my brother and I, we gave them our life story of how we played hockey our whole lives and how I worked in hockey," says Tyler. "And they were so intrigued by that just because they don't have that kind of resource down there in Colombia. So they were very very interested in 'how can we better ourselves?' whether it's coaching-wise, playing-wise, skill-wise, anything like that, they just started picking our brains. And then we started picking their brain with like, 'how do you run your systems?' or 'how do you run hockey in general down in Colombia?"
 
The tournament also opened Nate's eyes.
 
"How you can get all these different hockey players from different countries to have a tournament and see how many players actually can play hockey at a decent pace and at a good level…I thought that was the most amazing part," he says.
 
"I learned that there's no cultural difference," Tyler says after his week with the team. "Nobody was different just because they're from Colombia, where that culture is different, from my brother and I coming from America."
 
The enlightenment continued on the ice. For four games, Nate and Tyler were able to once again team up and play together. The highlight came in their game against Argentina, when Tyler assisted on a goal scored by Nate in the second period. It was just like old times. Only on an international stage.
"That was the surreal moment of checking every box that we wanted to check," Tyler says.
 
"We've been through a lot together in hockey, so to have that kind of moment was something I won't forget," Nate adds.
 
Both Barb and Jim made it down to Florida to watch their sons share this moment together.
 
"It was a pretty proud moment seeing him play for Colombia," says Jim. "All of the players loved each other. For such a short amount of time, what a bond those guys had."
 
Barb feels that the tournament did more than just bring hockey players from around the world together.
 
"I think it brought them [Nate and Tyler] back together."
   
Tyler believes that in order for the game of hockey to grow, the sport needs to find a way to be able to provide different resources to people, whether that be equipment or ice time. He sees the LATAM Cup as a great way to help the sport branch out.
 
"Just finding the resources, finding the different ways of growing the game of hockey, this is definitely one of the bigger events for non-traditional markets of growing the game of hockey," says Tyler.
 
Both Nate and Tyler hope to return to the event in the future. In the meantime, Tyler continues his day job of making sure he provides the teams at Binghamton all of the equipment they need to succeed. But his desire to help the game he loves expand and succeed remains.
 
"I just want to help out with the STHA (Southern Tier Hockey Association) and the hockey community here at Binghamton," Tyler says. "Encouraging kids who want to play, or just get them into it, or see if they would like it just like what my Dad did."
 
As he looks back on his journey, Tyler remembers a statement that he shares to inspire others who are looking to get into the sport.
 
"When you're playing hockey, everyone is the same."