Continue Reading.....Where do our players come from?
1998 Tryouts for the Quebec Pee Wee
International Tournament:The Atlantic
District is pleased to announce that we will field 2 teams going to Quebec: a
1998 Philadelphia Flyers team and a 1998 NJ Devils Team playing in the Quebec
Pee Wee International Tournament!
Each summer, USA
Hockey conducts Select Player Development camps for young athletes
throughout the country. The athletes are chosen from tryouts conducted within
USA Hockey Districts. The goal is to attract the best players, in their
specific age group, to the National Player Development Program.
The purpose of the camps
is to identify, train, educate and evaluate our best athletes. USA Hockey
starts their summer programs beginning with the 14 year olds and continues to
the 17 year olds. In order to help our Atlantic District players begin their
development, we start at the 12 year old level with your first exposure to the
program by sending teams to the Quebec Tournament!You are invited to tryout
to attend the most important minor hockey tournament in the world. About 2300
young hockey players from 16 countries go to Quebec to participate in the “World
Championships of Pee Wee Hockey”. The tournament takes place during a
period of 11 days with crowds totaling around 200,000 fans every year! This
extraordinary event was founded in 1960 and has never ceased to grow in
importance. This tournament will be held from Feb. 10-20, 2011. The
Quebec International Tournament is played in the Pepsi Colisee, in Quebec City,
Canada.
It is mandatory for all
players on the Quebec teams to billet with the hospitality families during the
Quebec tournament in February. No exceptions will be made. A parent/guardian
is required for each player on all teams to go to Quebec with player. Each
team will receive a minimum of 6 game/practice slots and a tournament prior to
leaving for Quebec. While in Quebec, in addition to the tournament games, each
team will play 4 or 5 exhibition games hopefully against foreign countries
scheduled by the tournaments.
Each year, club teams
apply to the Quebec tournament for entry. As acceptance to the Quebec
tournament is not sent out until November, we suggest that all players try out
for these district teams and if your club team is accepted into the Quebec
tournament, you will be released in November and free to play with your club
team.
In addition to the 20
players chosen for each team, we will also be taking an alternate goalie,
defensemen and forward for each of the two teams. We will use the alternates in
the event that a chosen player must drop out. The alternates will attend all
practices but only attend the Quebec Tournament if chosen to replace a player.
The
location of the first two tryouts for each team will be based on the player’s
respective area code (i.e.201, 973, etc. will try out in New Jersey; and 610,
609, etc. will tryout in Pennsylvania)
The
final tryout at Lawrenceville will consist of all surviving players from both
the Flyers and Devils areas. The top goalies, forwards and defensemen chosen
from the final tryout may be placed on either team regardless of area they live
in. Keep in mind – we are looking to choose the top players in the District and
then place them on teams.
TRYOUT FEE - $30 - For each tryout session is to be paid upon registration by
cash or check.
No pre-registration taken
for any of the tryouts. Registration begins about 45 minutes prior to each
session. Cuts will be made after each tryout.
Cost
of $975 per player includes: Bus Fare to and from Quebec for player and 1
Parent/guardian, Practices and Tournament, Entrance Fee into Tournament, Team
Jersey and Socks, Team Jacket, Bus Transportation entire time while in Quebec,
Equipment Bags, Other Miscellaneous Items. (Hotel costs are separate)
Payment of $975 must be paid upon selection of team. Check, Visa or Master Card
will be accepted.
Head coaches from our Player
Development program are Randy Walker for the Flyers team and John DiNorcia for
the Devils.
For further information or
any questions, please contact: Colleen Marinari, at hocky@erols.com
Players who choose the OHL over college
hockey scholarships really getting best of both worlds? By Jeff Hicks, Record staff
KITCHENER — Pop quiz for Ontario Hockey League education czar Joe Birch.
How many
current OHL players are full-time university or college students?
“Very,
very few,” said Birch, a former Kitchener Ranger who ranks No. 94 on the Hockey
News honour roll of the 100 most influential men in the business of pucks and
pencils.
Can you
name one? No answer.
Guelph’s
Tim Priamo and London’s Scott Aarssen are past examples he cited of true OHL
student-athletes.
The
Rangers have no full-time college or university students.
Team
education consultant Dave Tennant says such a course-load would be too strenuous
given the demands of a 68-game OHL season. The scheduling of classes around
games would be impossible.
Let’s
get educated on how post-secondary education works in the OHL.
Get out
your notebooks, class.
The
numbers scrawled on the blackboard by the league sound impressive. For the
2009-10 academic year, the OHL proclaimed last month it has awarded 355
“scholarships” to current and past players.
That’s
164 “scholarships” to players currently in the league. Add in 191 “scholarships”
to players who’ve blown through the 20-team major junior loop in a five-year
span ending last season.
Sounds
like an A-plus for the OHL, right? Surely, as Birch proudly proclaims, a player
can get the same education and hockey experience in the OHL as kid at school
full-time on a hockey scholarship in a U.S. college.
After
all, that’s what this is all about.
It’s
about the recruitment war to lure the best Canadian and American players into
the OHL by convincing them they can get the “best of both worlds” in major
junior – a hockey-heavy lifestyle now and a top-shelf education afterwards.
Once a
kid plays a single OHL game, his U.S. college eligibility is busted since the
NCAA considers the OHL a pro loop where players get paid, sign contracts and
have agents.
Let’s
dig deeper into the OHL-provided numbers. Remember, class, there are no dumb
questions.
So what
does the OHL consider a scholarship when it comes to a current player? Let’s
look over the league-provided list of 164 recipients.
Well,
Rangers goalie Mavric Parks takes a health course twice a week at Conestoga
College.
Nothing
wrong with that.Very commendable. But a “scholarship”? You decide.
The OHL
pays for tuition, books, compulsory fees, etc. It also claims credit for
providing room-and-board, which it has always done for players anyway.
There’s
ex-Ranger Josh Unice at the University of Windsor.
Oh, wait
a minute. He went home to Ohio after the Windsor Spitfires ditched him while he
was injured. Nice. Did we mention Unice tore up a full-ride scholarship to
Bowling Green of Ohio to come to the OHL? He did.
Now, his
agent says Unice is at the University of Western Ontario.
There
are nine players from six different teams listed as Athabasca University
students. That is an online school. No classrooms. They take online courses.
So do
eight players from Brampton, Sarnia and Owen Sound who “attend” the University
of Guelph, via their computers. Is that the equivalent of living on campus at
the University of Michigan and going to class?
Don’t
forget Guelph Storm benchwarmer Vadim Guskov. He’s on the list as a University
of Moscow student. That’s online, of course. There are more examples but you get
the idea.
Let’s
look at defenceman Nick Crawford. He is listed as a student at Northwood
University in Saginaw, Michigan on the OHL list, released on Nov. 24. On Nov. 9,
he got traded from Saginaw to Barrie.
Birch
said Crawford had met all his educational obligations to Northwood at the time
of the trade. That’s a pretty short semester.
How
about Niagara College student Jay Gilbert? He left the Niagara IceDogs a few
weeks ago and demanded a trade that is still pending.
Used to
be that OHL players who broke their contracts – left the team without permission
– lost all the education funds owing to them. Led to a nasty squabble in
Kingston over school money owed to a kid named Brodie Todd.
Not so
any longer, said Birch. Gilbert still has his package. “What a player has
earned, a player is entitled to,” Birch said.
Perhaps,
but section 12.1 of the standard player agreement, could certainly be read
differently. It says the club may terminate the contract for a variety of
reasons, including refusal to provide services, and lose all benefits.
Question
time again. How does an OHL educational package work?
Basically, here’s the deal. Sounds very sweet. An OHL player is entitled to one
year of post-OHL, post-secondary education cash for each year he is in the
league.
Play a
year, get one year. Play four, get four.
That
includes tuition, textbooks and compulsory fees. Top picks, and a limited number
of others, also get room and board covered. It can be used at any recognized
university or college in the world.
Of
course, there are catches. If you sign an NHL, AHL or European pro contract, you
lose your education package.
You can
keep it if you play in a lower North American pro loop. However, there’s another
catch. You only have 18 months to access it after leaving the OHL. Otherwise, it
disappears.
Then,
there’s the “domicile” rule. That determines the dollar value of your package
per year. The OHL takes the tuition fees at the college or university closest to
a player’s home.
That’s
what you get. In the case of a local kid like Waterloo’s Matt Smith, it’s a
little tricky. Smith, a third-string goalie for the Rangers who didn’t play one
OHL second in 2007-08, lives close to both the University of Waterloo and
Wilfrid Laurier University.
Which
tuition value does he get? “The higher of the two,” Birch said.
Not a
big deal, Birch added. Laurier is currently about $5,700. Waterloo is about
5,900.
Smith’s
father Clive said the Rangers gave him an average of the two at the time his
contract was signed.
Matt, a
first year English student at the University of Guelph, gets $4,500 towards his
schooling this year. “Pretty good chunk,” Smith said after an exam on Wednesday.
His full
tuition is about $5,700. He must pay to live in residence. After this year, he’s
on his own to pay for the rest of his schooling.
He
dressed one year in the OHL, he gets one year worth of money. Most important, he
dressed after Jan. 10 in his lone OHL season.
You see,
if you don’t play on or beyond that date, your education package is slashed in
half for that year.
That’s
another catch. You see, OHL teams are very concerned about what the education
war with the colleges is costing them. Rangers chief operating officer Steve
Bienkowski said so at last June’s annual general meeting.
The OHL
says it spent $1.8-million on post-secondary education last year, $1.2-million
on past players and $600,000 on current players. Birch said that will increase
for this season.
The
Rangers expect to spend $72,000 on post-secondary classes for current and past
players this year. Based on their commitments, they could spend as much as
$775,000 between now and 2014.
Of
course, they won’t spend anywhere near that. That’s because fewer than half of
OHL players will ever “access” any of the education money the OHL promises them.
Maybe not even half of half of them.
Now,
here’s the BIG question: What percentage of OHL players access their school
package payouts after they leave the league? Birch claims 49 per cent based on a
study of overage 20-year-old players, limited to three per team.
The OHL
says 24 overagers from last season signed pro deals while 30 tapped into their
OHL school packages.
But what
about the rest of the kids who never made it the overage year?
You
know, the kids who play and leave before becoming 20-year-old victory-lappers
like Mike Liambas playing against 16-year-olds like Ben Fanelli?
Birch
doesn’t think it’s fair to look at those numbers even though he lists those guys
in his 191 past players now receiving some OHL money towards post-secondary
schooling.
He even
counts ex-Ranger Chris Gravelding, who left the league after 2004-05, and is
accessing his money at the University of Maine.
So,
let’s look at a four-year cycle. Twenty-five players per roster for 20 teams.
That’s 500 players.
Now add
in an average turnover of seven players per team each year for three years.
That’s 420 players. We’re up to 920 players.
Now add
in the players who disappear quickly. The Mike Chmielewskis, Chris Brysons,
Charles Lavignes etc. Lavigne, a one-year Rangers backup in net, is on the OHL
list for St. Thomas University.
Say, two
guys per team each year over four years. That’s 160 guys.
Make the
grand total 1,080 players, of which 191 are tapping into their OHL education
packages after leaving.
That’s a
payout rate of 18 per cent.
Birch
doesn’t agree with that method of analyzing out the numbers. But he was not
prepared with his own numbers on a four-year cycle, other than the 191 in school
with OHL money.
“That
doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Birch said. “That would mean that, on the 25-man
roster, myself and three others would be post-secondary educated.”
Right.
And we haven’t even got to the matter of whether they graduate from college or
not.
This is
just showing up and tapping into the money.
There’s
another catch. If students take a break from full-time status once they start
school on their OHL package, they lose it. Says so in the players’ contract.
So,
where are the rest of the estimated 900 kids who’ve passed through the OHL? A
few are NHL regulars. Many are in the minors or in Europe. All we know is the
rest aren’t accessing OHL money for post-secondary education.
Meanwhile, American kids are being sold like never before on coming north to the
OHL to pursue a pro contract, while getting all the benefits of a college-style
education.
Cam
Fowler left a $50,000 a year scholarship at Notre Dame to join the Windsor
Spitfires. A recent Windsor Star article suggested Fowler – whose parents live
in Northville, Michigan – could attend Notre Dame on the Spitfires’ dime.
The
“domicile rule,” if applied, could cap Fowler’s annual OHL education fund at
about $18,000 based on the top rates at the closet colleges to the family home.
That includes Wayne State and Eastern Michigan.
But,
according to Birch, the rule doesn’t appear to apply to Fowler. “Cam could have
received a full-ride from the Windsor Spitfires, no different than he received a
full-ride from Notre Dame,” Birch said.
Worth
$50,000, if he accesses it? “Yes,” Birch said.
Didn’t
realize it could go that high. Thought it was tied to tuition at the school
closes to his parents’ house.
“Are you
being naďve here?” Birch said.
Guess
so.
Of
course, the OHL and the Spits need not worry. Fowler is a terrific player and
will surely sign an NHL or AHL deal. He likely will never go to college. The OHL
is banking on it.
