There are scholarships for both men’s and women’s ice hockey. A total of 1000 scholarships are awarded every year. This adds up to $29.8 million for the male players. 80% of ice hockey players receive a full scholarship. No other NCAA registered sport can claim to receive such a high level of support, just a further reason for applying for a scholarship. Scholarbook can help you to get a scholarship in the USA with a guaranteed refund if you don’t sign a contract. 90% of our candidates get full scholarships.
Women’s ice hockey enjoys similar conditions. The average size of a scholarship is $20,540, 80,2% receive scholarships and 423 are awarded.
Timing
The best time to go to the USA on a sports scholarship is straight after you finish school. College coaches prefer to give scholarships to younger students, as it enables them to continually train and improve a player’s performance over a period of four years. It is also possible to go to the US for just one year. Due to the contact we have to a large number of college coaches we have been able to help athletes after they have completed their Bachelor to do their Master in the USA. The best timing is if you contact us about one year before you plan to start studying in the USA. The ice hockey season is in the winter therefore it is possible for players to start at either the Spring Semester (January) or the Fall Semester (August).
Requirements
It is difficult to generalize on requirements. Scholarbook assesses each applicant individually. The best thing is to fill out our Opportunity assessment form, which will only take you five minutes. Due to the good contact we have to a lot of winter sport coaches, we are often able to convince them of your potential with a good video. However you mustn’t forget ice hockey is the sport that both Canadians and Americans are crazy about and the level of competition is very high so if you want to become part of it you need to be playing at a fairly high level.
For the women the NCAA1 & NCAA2 are together and this would be the equivalent of the German 1st League, for the men it would be the Regional League.
Training
Training is tough and is made up of 6 training units on the ice as well as extra units in the gym doing weight training. This is the only way to keep fit for dealing with what goes on, on the ice. However the coaches are there to make sure each player copes physically.
Competing
The final of the US American College Ice Hockey Championships is the biggest event in college sport. The National College Association Championship is the only ice hockey championship that is solely carried out in the USA. The NHL is coordinated with Canada. The finals, also known as “Frozen Four” is carried out in 2 divisions, whereby the American Champion comes out of Division 1. IN 2010 the final was won 5:0 by Boston College against the team from Wisconsin. The best male player of the series becomes the Hobey Baker Memorial Award and the best female player the Patty Kazmeier Memorial Award. The official website of the NCAA with Fan Shop, Videos, Blogs and news is an impressive confirmation of the importance of college ice hockey: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/icehockey-men/d1
The Scholarbook Team and especially Peter, who is responsible for our ice hockey players, looks forward to receiving your Opportunity Assessment Form.
