Elite Hockey Player - College Route!
"If you are a good hockey player and you work hard at it, you will play Pro hockey no matter what route you choose"
Be a "student-athlete" model!
You are a hockey player and you will like to pursue the College route. This diagram below helps you to understand the major hockey steps that an EHP may play over time to access Pro Hockey (NHL as an example):
They are some benefits to choose the College route:
-
Intensive off-ice training to offer the development of athletic abilities.
-
On-ice training to improve and to develop the technical and tactical aspects of hockey playing (less weekly games).
-
Good and/ or "high-level" of game competition (you have to choose the best Prep school, for example).
-
Best route to obtain an education. Education is a priority and it is not compromised.
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Normal development for an EHP who wants to enjoy a "social-cultural-educational" life.
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Scholarships pay for a great education.
-
Others (community involvement; time to play other elite sports like soccer; etc.).
-
You are not
traded during your College
hockey stage.
The
Online Resource for the National
Collegiate Athletic Association
provides pertinent info on NCAA
hockey and is a guide for the
college-bound-student EHP. This
web site provides links to the
NCAA web site; core-course
listings for high schools;
online info about Division
"initial-eligibility"; online
version of NCAA guide for the
college-bound-student prospect;
online FAQs, and any other
relevant info to help guide you
in your decision process.
An athletic
scholarship should cover up the
cost of tuition, fees, room,
board and books for a single
semester, but may be a good idea
to review the scholarship
policies of the institution that
you are interested to apply!
Here is a
Check List to review before
deciding to choose the College
Route. The diagram
below presents a
"step-by-step" approach
to follow if you decide to
pursue the education route while
playing hockey:
-
Review the
College hockey league (NCAA as
an example) documentation on
their web site to discover about
their philosophy, vision, and
program!
-
Surf the
hockey team's web site to study
their hockey program and goals?
-
What type of
scholarship do they offer!
-
Learn about
costs/housing/fees/travel/fitness/academic
options/etc.!
-
Visit the
College campus and athletic
facilities!
-
Where are
former team players studying and
playing?
- See some practice sessions
and games!
- Learn about coaches and team
history! (Player's profile
should be correlated with the
coach's profile!).
- Study hard for your SAT or
ACT and get a high GPA's
average, SAT or ACT' s results
to give you more academic
choices!
- Speak to current players and
families!
- Others (College academic's
rating; summer training
program!; etc.).
 If you would like to pursue this hockey route, you have to select the best Junior A/AA/AAA/Tier 1 leagues where College scouts watch for EHP's. Prospects who play for a Junior Major hockey team cannot receive a scholarship to play USA College hockey. Several prospects playing in the USHL, EJHL, and Canadian Junior A leagues are invited to play College hockey.
Most of our staff
has played either Junior hockey or
College hockey. We would be
more than happy to advise you about
the proper route to follow to meet
you
career goals. Several top prospects
who played at NAPS received some
guidance from our staff and today
they are playing the best level of
hockey that they can play. Some of
them will be drafted in the "1st
round" in this years NHL draft.
The US College league may give you more info about their hockey program. Surf the Useful Hockey links of this Web site to find out more about Junior A/Tier 1 and College hockey leagues.
You can also search the Internet to discover more about Junior and College hockey leagues:
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