My 2030 son is focused on prep school for his HS journey. He is a stand-out top-tier player in our AA league. He would be playing AAA but because of where we live on the eastern shore of MD, the closest rink is over an hour away and only has AA. Has attended Heartland Hockey camps in MN x2 and Pre-Prep Showcase this year. Was tournament MVP recently. However, I’m worried his shot at prep school hockey might not be tangible given the elite competition and his inability to play AAA due to logistics. He has a 3.5 GPA (all As and a few Bs) and is in all Honors classes. Community service and extra curricular besides hockey are lacking though. Are there schools that will take this into account? We have reached out to several schools and coaches, and he did get some interest from two schools at the Pre-Prep Showcase, but their records are poor and I worry about his development opportunities at those schools.
The one thing we discovered after we applied is that the hockey route and academic route into a prep school are different.
For the academic route if you can pay full tuition makes a big difference. Getting in is not too difficult. My son had a 3.8 GPA and was waitlisted at almost one all prep schools including some top ones in the country. I believe this was only because we could or were to pay 50% of tuition. If we had skipped the financial aid he would have been accepted almost everywhere. He was in one honors class as a freshman, two as a sophomore. He got one offer with no financial aid and one with.
However if you are accepted based on academics, the most likely option is JV. At least at the school where my son did get financial aid the coach was quite clear that the odds of moving up from JV to varsity are very low. It can be done but only 7 kids in 10 years had done it. Varsity is almost exclusively recruited kids. And most kids are recruited from AAA hockey.
Since we wanted to go for hockey and due to the minuscule odds we ended up passing.
Thank you for that insight. That’s what I seem to be finding out. So it sounds like if his heart is set on it - he may need to consider the schools with less robust programs if he wants the playing time. Which then he may as well stay where he is and continue to shine on his current team. It’s gonna be tough to get him to understand that but we will see what happens! Appreciate your feedback!
Also making videos of your son playing would help. And emailing coaches.
What are your goals? There are plenty of prep schools with hockey that will take him regardless of level and he can play high school hockey at either JV or perhaps Varsity. However, if he wants to play elite hockey and perhaps juniors and beyond then thats a different conversation. For example varsity hockey at Cushing is a completely different path than hockey at say Berwick Academy. The other thing you can consider is sending him to a hockey school at a place like Seacoast Performance Academy or NH Mountain Kings Academy or Boston Hockey Academy for a year and then use that year as a basis for Prep recruiting. Costs are similar as a prep school. If he has the talent you’ll know quickly and he can re-class for his prep career. Lots of options, but again, its about what your goals are.
So his goal is to play in college. He actually went to BHA and played with them a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it. But we were turned off by the academic side of things. Hadn’t considered the option of a year there and then reclassing for prep.
NH Mountain Kings Academy in Concord NH is a similar model except they team with Bishop Brady a local brick and mortar school where the kids attend class, not online. You may be more comfortable with that approach. If he wants to play in college, even ACHA, the next two years is key. If he is only playing AA he just isnt going to get the exposure to the coaches, talent, etc. and unless he is exceptional (which he may be) he will get left behind. The reality is most parents over estimate their child’s hockey ability and the hockey schools in particular run their entire business model on that. However, they will put your son in the right position for an honest evaluation against top talent and you will quickly learn if he truly has the ability to play at prep and beyond. If he is not getting recruited by a prep coach at one of the top schools (top 30), don’t go to that school for hockey. Period. Go for the education and expect to play JV hockey. Enjoy the journey, its over quickly