Grande Prairie Storm players have their eyes set on cashing in on their eligibility to further their hockey careers while earning college degrees.
Playing Junior “A” hockey gives the players a unique chance to earn scholarships to attend NCAA or CIS schools where they can further their hockey career while working toward a degree in the field of their choice. As an organization The Storm look for not only elite hockey players but also well rounded individuals to make up the squad. Helping the players achieve their dreams and goals of becoming professional hockey players, while also preparing them for the work force and life after hockey, is a goal of the Storm staff. Getting a scholarship to play NCAA or CIS is the perfect combination to achieve both. NCAA or CIS hockey is the next step in the ladder for the players looking to climb the ranks and play hockey professionally. With more and more university level players playing in the NHL it is a great route for young players, and to be able to study and further their education in the mean-time is a win-win for the athlete.
The players will be putting in some extra time in the classroom with local math teacher Marti Howard and Education advisor Ray Savage to help prepare for their upcoming SAT exams. In recent years the Storm have had many players obtain NCAA Division 1, and CIS scholarships; including locals: Tanner Fritz (Ohio State University), Carter Rowney (Universtiy of North Dakota), Dennis Rix (Michigan Technological University), Blake Clement and Mark Stojan (University of Calgary).
Assistant Coach Dennis Rix: “As a staff we want to be able to help out our players in any way possible, whether that be on or off the ice, giving them all of the tools and opportunity to succeed. We encourage the players to look at their time spent with the Storm as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. All of our players have aspirations of playing hockey for as long as they can, so one thing that we can do to help them is to give them the opportunity to work in the class room and prepare for their SAT exams to assure that they are as prepared as possible to succeed and get the scholarship they dream of.”