Update (11/5/11): We authored an article (Prep School Hockey: There’s a place for you to play) that looks at the range of hockey programs offered by boarding schools throughout the US. Whether you aspire to play NCAA hockey or simply like to lace on skates, there’s a program for you. 

Over at Hockey Journal, Andrew Merritt has posted a good primer on prep school hockey and how families and students might consider it, “Path to Success.”

As a primer it includes some background and history on the prep school game and its current state. He drops names and includes comments from a host of current, well-known players and coaches. Most importantly, he does a nice job echoing the concept that we always preach; it’s about fit.

School and student athletic and academic goals, and approaches must fit in order for the student’s experience to prove most productive.

As Milton Academy coach Paul Cannata told Merrit:

“If you’re identifying yourself as a young hockey player at age 14 or 15, you’re in for a disappointment…I think it would be more logical for young people to identify themselves as young people. At the end of the day, 99.9 percent of these kids, when they’re 25 years old, are going to be going to work, and that work is not going to entail putting on hockey skates. Ninety-nine percent of these players are not going to be playing hockey.”

Keep education the priority.

A critical note- Merritt focuses too tightly on ISL and Boston area prep schools. Omitting Cushing Academy and Avon Old Farms (to name just a couple of great hockey schools not mentioned)?

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