QUESTION: “Why would anyone choose to spend one to three years playing junior hockey rather than to go directly to college?"
ANSWER: THE PRIZE OF NCAA COLLEGE ROSTER OPPORTUNITIES
NCAA was established in 1906 and governs more than 1280 colleges and athletic conferences. Although the member schools develop the rules and guidelines for athlete eligibility and for conducting tournament play, the NCAA office is what makes these members accountable for providing fair, safe, inclusive and sportsmanlike competition. To be eligible to compete as a member of a NCAA team, student-athletes must be of amateur status according to the definition and qualifications set forth by NCAA and must be making progress towards college graduation. Contact information: NCAA Office 317-917-6222 M-F. PO Box 6222 Indianapolis IN 46206-6222. Athletes register their academic information (i.e. GPA, core high school class requirements) and a statement of amateur status with the NCAA Eligibility Center to ensure that they may compete for a NCAA member school. 1-877-262-1492
3731 young men played varsity hockey in the National Collegiate Athletic Association during the 2006/2007 season.
The majority of these roster spots were locked in by upper classmen who will continue to attend that college and play for their team. However due to graduation and dropouts, traditionally 380 freshmen roster positions become available each year to complete the following levels:
Division 1 Programs (59 Member Teams): 1551 TOTAL SPOTS
Of these, 840 players received full scholarship=22%
Division 2 Programs (7 Member Teams) 202 TOTAL SPOTS
Division 3 Programs (70 Member Teams) 1978 TOTAL SPOTS
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A COLLEGE IS RECRUITING ME: SHOULD I SKIP JUNIORS?
Even if you are a star prep/AAA player, be cautious about assuming that if you are being actively recruited by a college that you can skip juniors and still meet all your goals. Even at the D3 level, "true freshmen" are unlikely to make a team, to dress regularly in one of the 20 game roster spots, let alone to be awarded ice time in games. Traditionally, the opportunities for freshmen are quite limited compared to their upper classmen counterparts. Not one true freshman goalie played in a game in the MIAC, MCHA, or NCHA D3 level.
INTRODUCING THE 2007-2008 FRESHMEN CLASS...
The following is a snapshot of three NCAA D3 college leagues. You can safely assume that because most D1 programs offer athletic scholarship that those roster spots are even more competitive than at the D3 level described below. It is becoming quite rare for a NCAA team of any level to roster and regularly play a "true freshman," which is defined as a young man that attends college and competes in college varsity athletics directly after graduating high school.
Division III programs are no exception as they continue to be highly competitive and to attract players from Tier I to Tier III junior hockey programs and top high school talent from across the country. As a general trend, almost all college players currently on a roster with regular playing time chose to invest one to three years of their post-high school years in the USA Hockey junior hockey system as they physically matured and prepared for college hockey (on and off the ice). Now as 19 to 21 year old freshmen with several years of maturity and development, they are primed to work their way into the college ranks. As these players become upper classmen they will find more regular game time opportunities and will typically make a more significant contributions to their team than true freshmen counterparts.
MCHA Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association NCAA D3
Roster Opportunity: 6 teams x 25 roster spots = 150 players (however some teams listed between 26 to 33 players which gives the school more depth to draw on but less opportunities for the incoming freshman class). Final league rosters include a total of 36 freshmen (6MN, 6 WI, 10 CAN, 14 rest of USA). Four of these freshmen (11%) were "true freshmen whereas 32(88%) had played junior hockey first.
Game Opportunity: 6 teams x 20 game roster spots x 26 games = 3120 game roster spots. Of these spots, freshmen were dressed or played on a total of 398 games rosters (12%) and upper classmen took the rest. Of these 398 opportunities given to a freshmen, only 49 (12%) were given to "true" freshmen whereas 350 of these 398 opportunities (88%) were given to freshmen with junior hockey experience.
Scoring Success/Contribution:
132 points were scored by MCHA Freshmen. Eight of these points (6%) were scored by "true freshmen; 124 points (94%) were scored by freshmen with junior hockey experience. This split is indicative of game time and readiness to play at the college level.
MIAC: MN Intercollegiate Athletic Conference NCAA D3
Roster Opportunity: 9 x 25 players = 225 roster spots. Forty six freshmen were included league roster sheets (39 MN, 1 WI, 0 CAN, 6 rest of USA). Fourteen true freshmen were listed by the league plus team websites listed an additional fourteen true freshmen, bringing the total of true freshmen affiliated with MIAC teams to 32 (listed below) The other 32 freshmen listed by the league had junior hockey experience creating a 50/50 split. Including these unofficial players, the split was 32 true and 32 veterans for a total of 64 freshmen. This statistic looks good until you see that the percentage of game opportunities given to true freshmen who in their eyes are part of the team but not to the league.
Game Opportunity: 9 teams x 20 players x 26 games = 4680 game roster spots available.
Freshmen were dressed/played in a total of 566 games rosters spots (12%) while upper classmen dressed for 88%. 182 of these 566 opportunities given to a freshman went to "true" freshmen (32%) whereas 382 of these 566 opportunities (67%) went to freshmen with junior hockey experience. The unofficial true freshmen did not even get a chance to be counted.
Scoring/Contribution: 2037 total points were scored in the MIAC 2007-2008 season. Freshmen tallied 240 points (11%). Of these 240 point, 87 were recorded by only 14 of the 32 true freshmen who were recruited directly to college hockey. This contribution was 4% of all points earned in the league this year and 36% of all points earned by freshmen. By contract, the freshmen with junior hockey experience contributed 153 points which was 7% of league total points and 63% of all freshmen points.
North Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) NCAA D3
Roster Opportunity: 8 x 25 = 200 roster spots including 77 Freshmen coming from MN (11), WI (11), CAN (23), MI (8), Foreign (8), rest of USA (21). Thirteen players (16%) were "true freshmen; 64 (83%) were freshmen junior hockey vets.
Game Opportunity: 8 teams x 20 players x 26 games = 4160 available game rosters.
Freshmen were dressed/played on a total of 1164 games rosters (27%). Two hundred twelve (18%) of these 1164 opportunities given to a freshman went to "true" freshmen; 954 (82%) of these 1164 opportunities went to a freshman with junior hockey experience
Scoring/Contribution: 758 points were scored by MIAC Freshmen.
99 points (13%) were scored by "true freshmen; 660 points (87%) were scored by freshmen with junior hockey
For 2006/2007 season, 110,000 male hockey players were eligible college prospects for the 380 openings on NCAA college rosters.
Where do NCAA college players come from?
90,000 US college eligible players (listed above)
Canada Junior 10,000 eligible participants
Canada High School 5000 eligible participants
Europe Junior 5000 eligible participants
SO IF COLLEGE HOCKEY IS YOUR GOAL AND YOU THINK JUNIORS IS THE BEST STRATEGY...CONTINUE READING POSTS TO THE RIGHT
