03/21/2024
For all hockey parents n players, may help you prepare for hockey after highschool because things are changing fast.
First n foremost be realistic in your goals n research as to go pro or even play NCAA D1 is like winning the lottery and comes at a huge cost, not only financially! You need talent and a few of these help
-GOOD GRADES, gets u more scholarship money than anything else n college coaches want n can get A+ students who work 2 jobs and are leaders
-genetics can be huge
-location(u don’t need to leave home to move on but in some cases is the only option for the dream)
-teams or caliber of hockey available in ur area
-$ available
-Time available
etc etc.
I was asked about the road to college hockey for my daughter a couple months ago by a friend and honestly knew nothing.
Still don’t know a lot, but some of what I learned may help:
-did not reach out or look at any NCAA D1 programs and only 3 Usports schools. Went East to West Coast in the search starting in NCAA D3 . East has an incredible amount of opportunities, Mid West is a solid maybe on average higher caliber game, West Coast is newer to women’s hockey n mostly Club Team opportunities or pay to play but you still need to make the team every year.
-this is last season but still seniors taking advantage of covid rules giving them an extra season, thus at all levels players had the choice to play an extra year so available spots were fewer for the coming season n next year there will be many more recruiting opportunities opening as covid rules end after 24/25season.
-in total we have reseached over 50 Canadian n US schools with women’s hockey programs and can tell you that with the flood of women’s programs in the last 5 years specifically that NCAA D3 and all collegiate programs seem to have a large caliber of discrepancies in players abilities n what they can or do offer the athlete.
Most but not all offer academic scholarships to international students from $2000 to $25,000 based on grades.
Some schools can offer more to student athletes than others competing in the same division n conference sometimes.(Do your research) This is were things get complicated.
NCAA programs have rules like
-when they can talk to athletes
-like a date when they can start to coach team
-roster size
-some can set own game schedule
-some offer everything included, travel, meals, accommodation, equipment etc and some you get limited equip and u need to fund raise all season.
-no athletic scholarships (unless u are classed as NCAA D1 program or D2 n belong to the *NAIA.*
ACHA D1 may have the biggest hockey caliber discrepancy.
-some play 30-40 games
practice Sept/may/provide summer workout program
-Club teams can be player run
-Club teams often have annual dues to be paid
-Annual tryouts
-fundraisers to cover all other costs
-Some have fully funded athletic departments
-Full time coach n staff included teams Dr/trainers etc
-some can offer academic n athletic scholarships
Men’s n Women’s Programs by opportunity are getting close to equal as there are women’s programs popping up everywhere in the US n Canada. Junior n Collegiate hockey is changing n growing fast with teams for Men n Women. Hockey academy’s are producing solid skilled players so there is more talent then ever before n most Top NCAA D3 or ACHA D1 or D2 team rosters are full of prep school or AAA program players.
How i see the caliber of hockey today after watching hours of NCAA D3/ACHA D1/D2/D3 women’s n men’s hockey n National Championship s and researching through online/face to face or phone call interviews. The coach’s have many opportunities to move locations with all the teams popping up so the info was great n often reforced by peers.
-NCAA D1 is top and run like a business, if you are not performing you are watching.
Play 25-30 games if go to nationals, practice Oct-end of march with coach. annual professional workout program n most if not all costs covered.
$18,000 US athletic scholarship available for a each player on roster, some get the full 18, some get more which means others on roster get less. Get hurt n can no longer play, find your own funding for school.
-usports is also a great option n has great schools n hockey programs that can cover a lot of expenses n in the past was a solid lock in #2 spot but that is changing fast with the development of so many good young hockey players coming out of the academy streams everywhere in North America.
-Women’s NCAA D3
-plays 20-26 games
-on ice with coach Oct-end of March
-Annual professional workout n shorter travel schedule than most ACHA teams.
-ACHA D1
This is no longer an easy call as best women’s teams in ACHA can now not only compete with the best NCAA D3 schools they have been beating U sports teams.
(some ACHA D1 (NAIA members)can offer academic n athletic scholarship opportunities n if ur lucky the school will agree to stack the scholarships so as an athlete if u get hurt n can’t fulfill your agreement athletically you can’t loose that part of the scholarship as it is stacked n u are funded four your 4 years.)
-ACHA D2
mostly pay to play but again not all and Two of the D2 powerhouse teams are from Canada, Sault who scouts Northern Ontario n has University affiliation n Assiniboine from Brandon MB. ( played each other in Nationals championship game)
-ACHA D3 mostly pay to play n fundraising n equivalent to highschool hockey in some cases
(Junior n U18/U22 teams fit in but we did not research, Molly was offered spots on U18 prep school teams as an over aged player, n Junior colleges, good option for some)
We were aggressive in are approach as we started late n Molly had several interested schools at all times throughout the process but may not be best approach for everyone.
-Schools at all levels still looking today.
-don’t wait for a scout to find you!!!, develop a player profile n send it to the head coach of each program you are interested in.
- u can develop a free online profile through NCSA that they will upgrade for a fee n give u a good rating when coaches view. Molly registered in last month n should have done in grade 11 but off the free online profile she generated 25 coach contacts and this site was helpful to see what programs were looking for what positions n then u can contact them even if they don’t view your profile. Coaches did tell us from there side players are rated n better rating might go with level of package u purchase but free worked great for Molly even though she did not have a good online rating.
In short being part of any of these programs would be a great next level experience but with research you can find the perfect program that offers everything you want academically, athletically, geographically and financially.
pic is Mollys NCSA profile page 1, kids looking to go the college route i suggest you start to reach out to coaches in grade 11 n save any great video to showcase all of your skills.
Good luck to all players in our region, hockey does not have to end after highschool!
Keep in mind this was just how we found the experience n only my opinions n really directed at the Women’s hockey programs.
