By Jon Hagan
You wouldn’t be alone if you thought that by choosing to play in the Western Hockey League rather than college hockey in the NCAA, a player might be choosing sport over education. You would, however, be wrong. It goes without saying that the WHL is hugely successful when it comes to producing top calibre players, but something not all fans know is that the WHL has a program in place, which offers a guaranteed post-secondary scholarship to all its players that puts a focus on helping them prepare for the future. “For each season played in the WHL, a player receives one year of scholarship funding to a post-secondary institution of his choice,” said the league’s manager of recruitment, Tyler Boldt. “This scholarship includes tuition, compulsory fees, and textbooks. This program applies to every single player in the WHL. For a player who only plays one or two seasons, he is awarded the scholarship he earned while playing those seasons.” But the teams don’t just provide money for education. They provide guidance in the form of advisors that each team has on staff. These advisors help players navigate their way through high school and into post-secondary, if desired. For the Edmonton Oil Kings, Roger Castle is that man.
Things don’t slow down when they graduate either. “After finishing grade 12, we encourage these boys to take some post-secondary classes,” said Castle. And while most will take one or two, a few exemplify serious motivation. “At the end of this season, Rhett Rachinski will be finished his first year over at the University of Alberta, minus one course.” To better facilitate this opportunity, the league recently partnered with Athabasca University to offer fully accredited university courses, through online and other distance education vehicles, to any WHL player interested in further pursuing post-secondary studies while playing in the WHL. Having whet their appetites with some university level course work, these young men are ready for the next step in their lives--one that may not involve professional hockey, but one that can be equally as rewarding; and with the WHL scholarship program in place, that next step is supported.
“THE TEAM HAS EXPECTATIONS THAT THEIR PLAYERS ARE GOING TO PERFORM NOT ONLY ON THE ICE BUT IN THE CLASSROOM.”
Prior to coming on board as the education advisor for the Oil Kings, Castle, a retired school teacher, originally pitched the idea of a focus on education to the brass in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. They must have liked the idea because they made him the league director of education, a position he held until 2003 when he resigned. When the Oil Kings came back into existence in 2007, Castle was onboard. “The main role is to help players graduate high school in a timely fashion,” he said. “We connect with each boy one way or another, come up with a graduation plan and track what they’re taking.” Even with the grind of junior hockey and its intensive schedule of games and practices, Castle doesn’t cut these guys any slack. The team has expectations that their players are going to perform not only on the ice but in the classroom. “Coming in we tell them they’ve got to get at least 40 credits in grade 10 and 40 credits in grade 11 and that they get the required courses out of the way,” he said. “It’s a real balancing act right from the word go.”
Former Spokane Chief and Edmonton Oil King, J.P. Szaszkiewicz, is one of these guys. After playing three seasons with the Chiefs, who drafted him as a 16-year-old, Szaszkiewicz made his way home for his final year of junior. Opting not to play as a 20-year-old, the Edmonton native decided to start university a year early. Now in his fourth year of business at the U of A, he is hitting the books hard, studying to become an accountant and playing for the Golden Bears. “The education advisor that we had in Spokane, Brenda Nelson, was great and Jim Donlevy (Director of Education Services for the WHL) was always involved,” said Szaszkiewicz. “Jim sent out a form for us to fill in and send back once we’d registered for classes in university. It was as simple as that. I was in.” The beauty of the program is that it’s not restricted only to university. Players are able to attend any post-secondary institution anywhere in North America, and this includes any type of school which, Boldt describes is “career enhancing.”
Hockey Edmonton Magazine
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