Prospects Hockey Tournament

|VIEW| THE HISTORIC TIMELINE OF THE PROSPECTS HOCKEY TOURNAMENT |VIEW|

GET EDUCATED ON NCAA RECRUITMENT

See wwww.ncaa.org to download a copy of "Guide for the Student Bound Athlete to the NCAA"

NEWS RELEASE: JAN 25, 2007

It is the year of the 1991 birth year player in the recruiting battle between the 3 CHL Major Junior Hockey Leagues (OHL, WHL, QMJHL) and NCAA.

While the CHL leagues have no limitations as to how they openly recruit players the same can not be said for NCAA schools who face many restrictions.

Many players and parents who are interested in the hockey and educational opportunities afforded in the NCAA often wonder if NCAA schools are even interested in them when they do not hear anything from NCAA schools yet are inundated with Major Junior information.

We hope that this article will clear up some misconceptions as to how NCAA schools can interact with Grade 10 (sophomore) students.

1) Recruiting Materials: Only questionnaires can be sent out. No recruiting brochures or recruiting information may be sent to an athlete.

2) Telephone Calls: College coaches cannot call grade 10 students. Athletes may call coaches but in order to speak to a coach you must reach him. If a student leaves a message the coach cannot call him back. Therefore, if a student is interested in a school, he needs to continually call until he reaches the coach.

Non American students may receive 1 phone call in July once he has finished his grade 10 year.

3) Off Campus Visits: NCAA coaches are not allowed to visit a student off campus in his sophomore year. Therefore, if a CHL scout and a NCAA coach are watching the same grade 10 athlete, the CHL coach can speak with him in the arena after his game while the NCAA coach cannot.

4) Official Campus Visits: NCAA schools are not allowed to invite a student to their campus and pay for the trip as an "official visit".

5) Unofficial Visits: Students, at their expense, may make an unlimited amount of "unofficial visits" to the Universities they are interested.

Why are these rules set up by the NCAA, the governing body for all college athletics?

To protect the young student athlete from the hype and distractions that come with the recruiting process that will get in the way of his education. Grade 10 student athletes rarely make an impact in Major Junior hockey when they are in grade 11. Yes, there are the rare exceptions, but most are not ready to compete at the CHL level. At the same time, the grade 10 student is 2-3 years away from going to university. The NCAA rules are set up to try and allow the student to concentrate on his high school work and continuing education. The CHL knows these rules and have set their draft ages low enough to get to the players first so it looks like NCAA teams are not interested which could not be further from the truth.

Why are there a handful of grade 10 sophomore students who have made commitments to NCAA school given the NCAA rules?

NCAA coaches know who the top players are and some of these students have taken advantage of the opportunity to contact NCAA coaches under the NCAA rules. Make no mistake, NCAA schools want the best sophomore student athletes. Thus when great grade 10 players make the effort to visit campuses or call coaches there is a verbal agreements that is reached between the 2 parties that is then put on paper after the student's grade 11 year is completed.