Prep school w/hockey for senior year?

goaliedad
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:48:47 +0000

Since you are already working with a reputable goalie coach, I’d suggest you approach him with the idea that your son would like to try his hand a prep hockey not only for the hockey experience (you can get good experiences both prep and club), but for the life experience. It sounds like he is familiar with your son’s level of play and also the history of what prep placement of regional goalies. He’ll probably be a better guide as to which school might be of a level that would be a good match for your son, than us internet folks who haven’t seen a lick of him in net.

And a good professional goalie coach shouldn’t be offended by your choice to pursue prep and in fact be supportive of a kid who wants to get ahead in life. Hopefully he will give you a solid written evaluation of your son’s skill that you can use as a calling card with prep coaches. Being from outside the traditional recruiting circuit, such an evaluation will be invaluable in actually getting the attention of coaches who have many prospects to evaluate.

And the goalie coach probably won’t be losing a client either (you’ll probably want to use his summer services going forward anyways).

If you think your son will take advantage of a second shot at 11th grade (perhaps taking an honors level of a class he previously took at the regular level) to improve his academic profile, it will help quite a bit with college placement. While stopping a puck will go a long way in getting you into a school, coaches are even more interested in the ones whom they don’t have to beg adcoms to let in and don’t have to worry about dealing with eligibility once they get there.

So as much as an extra year (be it either 11R or PG) is valuable in developing his hockey skills (he was a late starter IIRC), your son has to understand, believe, and be able to articulate the extra importance of the academic benefits of that time.