Parents can only dream of raising children who are so athletically talented that college expenses are not a concern. It’s one thing to enjoy playing street hockey on the weekend or even belonging to a team for a few years. When you’re so good that you have scouts and recruiters coming out to see your games from hundreds of miles away, you can safely assume that a sport scholarship will likely be in your future.

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Toronto - June 15, 2017 - Parents can only dream of raising children who are so athletically talented that college expenses are not a concern. It’s one thing to enjoy playing street hockey on the weekend or even belonging to a team for a few years. When you’re so good that you have scouts and recruiters coming out to see your games from hundreds of miles away, you can safely assume that a sport scholarship will likely be in your future. Not all colleges and universities have hockey teams or even sports programs at all, so you will need to make your choice based on location, availability and the type of sports scholarships that you may get offered. Here’s how to take a love of hockey and turn it into a way for you to go to college for free, or at an extremely reduced rate.

You may really want to try out playing another position that appears to be more fun, but you need to focus on what makes your natural talents shine. For instance, don’t try to talk your coach into allowing you to go from playing goalie to forward just because you are sick of defending shots. Clearly, if you have been assigned a certain hockey position it is because you excel there. At another time that is less crucial you should be able to test out other positions, but stick to what you know when it comes to getting into college with a full sports scholarship.

A lot of athletes are very good when they perform, whether or not they practice twice a week or not at all. If you are attending high school full-time, you probably have homework, research papers, and other responsibilities that can get in the way of attending practice consistently. Remember that college recruiters want to see you as you warm up, stretch, practice, and interact with other players just as much as they desire to see your raw talent during games. Missing practices when there is a recruiter from a college that you want to attend can cause you to miss out on being awarded a scholarship.

Even if hockey is your favorite sport and you don’t have that much interest in baseball, basketball, soccer, or anything else, playing hockey competitively will hone your athletic skills. You will be offered more sports scholarships and opportunities to play sports at a collegiate level if you show that you can potentially cross over into another sport. If you’re fast on the ice, consider taking up cross country running. If you can slap a puck into the net from across the ice, think about using your excellent eye-hand coordination to start knocking baseballs out of the park.

The good news about playing a sport that you love is that it will never feel like work. You will have the opportunity to gain a higher education without graduating with debt, and in your free time, you will be partaking in a sport that you love. Keep playing hockey whether or not you go pro and you will keep your skills sharp.