• Gregg Nelson 2011

Gregg Nelson

Nelson was born in St. Paul, Minn., where he played youth hockey in Hayden Heights and was a member of the St. Paul City champion team.  He moved to Fond du Lac while still in grade school and continued his youth hockey with Don Kohlman as his coach, playing in the very first WAHA Bantam State Tournament.  Following high school at Fond du Lac Goodrich High School, Nelson went on to play college hockey for “Badger Bob” Johnson at the University of Wisconsin.  As a right wing for the Badgers, Nelson played in 85 games, scoring 29 goals and 23 assists.  Following his collegiate career, Nelson played for the Dayton Gems in the International Hockey League, and for the Green Bay Bobcats, Iron Rangers and Waterloo Blackhawks in the USHL.

His professional career involved managing the rink and coaching the high school team in Beaver Dam for seven years, and 13 years as the arena manager at the Naga-waukee Park Ice Arena, where he started and ran the WAHA Adult State tournament.   As an arena manager, Nelson served two different terms as the president of the Wisconsin Ice Arena Managers Association (WIAMA).

Nelson spent many years involved with WAHA, and was one of its first Coaching Directors, a position he held for eight years.  Among other duties in this position, he was responsible for player evaluations that led to Central District and National camps.  In later years, Nelson became a Learn to Skate instructor in the Milwaukee area, where he touched countless youth hockey players as they began their hockey playing careers.

Nelson has involved himself with other sports as well, coaching girls softball, youth baseball and soccer.  He and his wife Lynne have two sons, Noah and Ben.