FreddyFoyle
AUS & CIS Hockey Nut
Re: College Hockey amps up war on Canadian major junior....
Yes, I've read that article before, and the writer's focus is all over the map, and he doesn't include all of the facts that might get in the way of the point he's trying to make.
First, yes the OHL has new rules (that match long-time WHL rules) that an OHL graduate is entitled to one year's tuition for each year played. That is from the OHL. Each team is allowed to bump up that education as much as they want beyond the minimum levels. Some OHL teams are tightwads, some are more generous. I can tell you that there are former Major Junior players in the CIS right now with education packages in the range of $15,000 per year thanks to add-ons from their former teams, which is pretty close to a free ride in Canada.
Don't forget, the top CIS hockey conferences that do the most recruiting, and put more athletic scholarships on the table to supplement the CHL packages, are the AUS and Canada West and not the OUA, which this navel-gazing writer in Kitchener ignores.
The writer spends a lot of inches ridiculing how seriously his example players are taking university WHILE playing in the OHL. Well, duh, their focus right now is on the time and travel commitments involved with Major Junior hockey, and not school. You can't play for a junior team and be a full-time university student, and be successful at both. Of course lots of these players take online courses - the flexible time conditions for those courses makes them easier to manage. It is the same reason working people take online courses.
As for the percentage of former OHL players who actually go on to post secondary education, is it so different from the youth population in general? We don't know, because the writer doesn't bring that up. Not all kids go to university or college, so why should we expect more from hockey players?
Besides, if you are one of the hundreds to thousands of former OHL players playing minor pro hockey up through to the NHL, well you are "working" right now, so education isn't your priority. Of course, we all hope that they get some sort of post-secondary education when they finally retire from hockey, but we would wish that upon any of our young people.
Yes, I've read that article before, and the writer's focus is all over the map, and he doesn't include all of the facts that might get in the way of the point he's trying to make.
First, yes the OHL has new rules (that match long-time WHL rules) that an OHL graduate is entitled to one year's tuition for each year played. That is from the OHL. Each team is allowed to bump up that education as much as they want beyond the minimum levels. Some OHL teams are tightwads, some are more generous. I can tell you that there are former Major Junior players in the CIS right now with education packages in the range of $15,000 per year thanks to add-ons from their former teams, which is pretty close to a free ride in Canada.
Don't forget, the top CIS hockey conferences that do the most recruiting, and put more athletic scholarships on the table to supplement the CHL packages, are the AUS and Canada West and not the OUA, which this navel-gazing writer in Kitchener ignores.
The writer spends a lot of inches ridiculing how seriously his example players are taking university WHILE playing in the OHL. Well, duh, their focus right now is on the time and travel commitments involved with Major Junior hockey, and not school. You can't play for a junior team and be a full-time university student, and be successful at both. Of course lots of these players take online courses - the flexible time conditions for those courses makes them easier to manage. It is the same reason working people take online courses.
As for the percentage of former OHL players who actually go on to post secondary education, is it so different from the youth population in general? We don't know, because the writer doesn't bring that up. Not all kids go to university or college, so why should we expect more from hockey players?
Besides, if you are one of the hundreds to thousands of former OHL players playing minor pro hockey up through to the NHL, well you are "working" right now, so education isn't your priority. Of course, we all hope that they get some sort of post-secondary education when they finally retire from hockey, but we would wish that upon any of our young people.
