PREP SCHOOL HOCKEY
By Ted Kelley
Reprinted with permission of the Prep School Hockey Guide

Since the advent of prep school hockey in the early 1900s, a significant group of New England private schools has established a legendary history of overcoming the obstacles of ice availability and developing programs of hockey prowess. Throughout the long evolution from skating on the ponds to outdoor natural ice, outdoor artificial rinks, and today's state-of-the-art rinks, these private schools have held hockey in a special niche in the world of prep school athletics.

From the outset, the prep school has understood and valued the need for daily physical play as well as the natural phenomenon of competitive play. Individual growth within the context of team play remains a paramount objective as schools use sports to hone a number of physical, emotional and decision-making skills. In this arena, the individual can develop certain characteristics, such as, the ability to focus intensely on skill development, the ability to identify possibilities quickly in the heat of competition and to respond just as quickly to these possibilities in a poised and rational manner, and finally, the ability to make good decisions in relation to the self and the group.

Though the quality of hockey is excellent, prep schools have long encouraged a wide range of athletic participation for a young person so that he or she has the opportunity to develop and test many skills and grow through a variety of experiences in several sports. This range of competition allows the athlete to perfect a number of athletic skills in the traditional pattern of fall, winter and spring sports, and thus, face a more significant number of athletic challenges. With a deeper understanding of athletics coupled with the value of changing seasons, the more balanced athlete, who plays hockey, can effectively develop his hockey skills in the highly competitive prep school season of approximately twenty-five to thirty games plus playoffs each year. The prep schools' sound tradition of a challenging and intense practice schedule for the week dictates a high level of individual skill and team skill drills for Monday and Tuesday, a competitive game on Wednesday, a reevaluation of the progress of both the individual skills as well as the team skills following the game, and finally, a more effective Thursday and Friday practice session in the overall preparation for the game on Saturday. Add to these weeks the traditional Christmas tournament and New Years tournament, the physiological cycle allowing for a high level of intensity and proper changes of intensity including rest and recuperation, all enable the hockey player to achieve excellence. In addition, the prep schools have first class weight training facilities which aid the athlete in the area of sport-specific strength training. Clearly this type of schedule and competition has enabled a number of young people to succeed at fulfilling their hockey objectives and to participate beyond the private schools in colleges, universities, and, in some cases, professional hockey teams.

The most significant part of the whole experience, however, is the balance of athletics and academics. Absolutely, the key is to possess the opportunity to be part of an aggressive academic environment where a young person can perfect his intellectual skills and mature in a setting that clearly understands the priority role of academics. Athletics, while a very significant part of the experience, does not predominate in the sense of one's losing the long term focus of education. Simply put, if one wins or loses an athletic contest, he or she realizes the sun will rise in the morning and one still must compete in math, history, English, language, science, art and, at the same time, fulfill a number of obligations in relation to extra curricular activities beside the athletic experience and a community service requirement. In this committed atmosphere, an athlete must possess a serious perspective and a maturity in order to achieve a level of excellence in the classroom and community as well as on the ice. In this setting, both the student and the faculty will spend countless hours not only preparing students academically, athletically and artistically, but also fostering the qualities of civility, integrity, and respect for all. In this environment, a young man or a young woman can achieve immeasurable life time results.