Any Canadian sports parents?

[njmom47]

I did look at the Canadian section but it doesn't seem to be about anything other than travel, so I am asking here.

DS's college has an awesome ice hockey program, and he has made friends with some 21 year old Canadian players who live off campus worried He's a freshman and says they're considered freshman also.
Does anyone know anything about Canadian schooling and how/why they come to the US to play sports? Curious is all.
TIA

 

[gwynne]

Maybe they were recruited and/or given scholarships because they are talented hockey players.

 

[njmom47]

Maybe they were recruited and/or given scholarships because they are talented hockey players.

I thought that too but since at age 21, we are usually college seniors in the US. Since they're freshman, does that mean they get another 4 years of college in the US? Maybe they age out of sports though..how could you put a 25 yr old against an 18 year old (physically)?

 

[gwynne]

I thought that too but since at age 21, we are usually college seniors in the US. Since they're freshman, does that mean they get another 4 years of college in the US? Maybe they age out of sports though..how could you put a 25 yr old against an 18 year old (physically)?

I had a second, so I thought I'd look around the net to see what I could find. This article sort of answers some of your Q's. They address size/age disparity in it. It's an interesting read.

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/sports/men_hockey/article_3af697de-f26d-11e2-81d6-0019bb30f31a.html

 

[Gigi22]

Not sure I have your answer, but perhaps something close. My (Canadian) nephew has been on his American college's hockey team for 2 years now. I think he is one year older than his peers. This is because, coming from Canada, he had a number of courses to make up before he could graduate from h.s. in the US. In Canada, of course there is no requirement for American history, literature, & etc. courses to graduate h.s.

My guess would be that the older Canadian hockey players had to complete some extra course work before they could get into a US college. That, or they completed h.s. in Canada and went to play on amateur hockey teams for a couple of years before going to college in the US.

 

[njmom47]

I had a second, so I thought I'd look around the net to see what I could find. This article sort of answers some of your Q's. They address size/age disparity in it. It's an interesting read.

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/sports/men_hockey/article_3af697de-f26d-11e2-81d6-0019bb30f31a.html

Interesting reading for sure!!
Thank you for finding that article.

 

[canadianjovigirl]

Having a son who played hockey, but not to that level and having friends whos sons did play to that level it pretty much boils down to personal choice.

Here they can play in the Canadian Hockey League and hope to get drafted to the NHL from there and if not when they age out of that program they get a years scholarship for every year they committed to the CHL. So they pretty much commit to just hockey for that time frame and then go to university after that. If they take the NCAA route they focus on school as well as hockey at the same time and some feel that is to much all at once, others like that route better.

My friends son has already had to make that decision at 15 as he plays for a high caliber city team and is being scouted by both the CHL and the NCAA and you do have to choose one or the other as if you join the CHL you cannot then go the NCAA route.

They may have been playing for their local teams longer hoping to get a shot at the CHL before they went to a college team to play hockey and get an education at the same time.

 

[kritter47]

The vast majority of high level hockey players, regardless of the route they eventually take, play junior hockey which has an age range of 16-20 years old. There are tiers of junior teams, the top being the CHL mentioned above, which is considered a semi-pro league in the eyes of the NCAA. Players who play major junior (which is the CHL) are ineligible for NCAA hockey. You can be recruited at 15, but you can also be recruited at 17 or 18 - any time until you turn 20.

However, there are many lower levels of junior hockey in both the US and Canada (USHL, NAHL, BCJHL, CJHL, etc.) where players can play until 20 and still retain their NCAA eligibility. Many, though not all, hockey players exhaust their junior eligibility before moving on to college.

Other developmental systems include high school leagues in some states (prep schools in the Northeast/Midwest and the Minnesota high school system being the two biggest), where they generally age out around 19. So it's very common in NCAA hockey circles to have 20-21 year old freshmen who exhausted their junior eligibility before starting college. I'd guess the players in the OP's case played through the BCJHL or CJHL (perhaps a prep school, but it's less likely with their ages), then came to the NCAA once their eligibility was up.

 

[ronandannette]

Not sure I have your answer, but perhaps something close. My (Canadian) nephew has been on his American college's hockey team for 2 years now. I think he is one year older than his peers. This is because, coming from Canada, he had a number of courses to make up before he could graduate from h.s. in the US. In Canada, of course there is no requirement for American history, literature, & etc. courses to graduate h.s.

My guess would be that the older Canadian hockey players had to complete some extra course work before they could get into a US college. That, or they completed h.s. in Canada and went to play on amateur hockey teams for a couple of years before going to college in the US.

Not sports-related but TONS of Canadians (and people from countless other countries as well) go to American colleges without having to take these courses. Their SAT scores and other criteria are what get them admitted and their highschool records from their country of origin are recognized.

 

[njmom47]

Thank you for the replies. I didn't realize how complicated it could be!

 

[Gigi22]

Not sports-related but TONS of Canadians (and people from countless other countries as well) go to American colleges without having to take these courses. Their SAT scores and other criteria are what get them admitted and their highschool records from their country of origin are recognized.

Unfortunately his family relocated a year before his h.s. graduation in Ontario, so poor DNephew was faced with having to make up several courses to graduate from his new American h.s. He accepted the situation with good grace, kudos to him.