How to Become a Varsity Student Hockey Player

Day 12 – The Waterloo Warriors Recruiting Process

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This is the twelfth day of our team’s virtual mid-season training camp. Each day for 28 days, there will be a short assignment for you to do to continue your development. These assignments are mandatory for players and coaches. Parents are also encouraged to participate.

Last season, we had a fantastic meeting with coaches Shaun Reagan, the Head Coach of the University of Waterloo Warriors Women’s Hockey Team and his Associate Coach Dollee Meigs.

Here is the recorded video of their presentation. This is a really good presentation and should be watched by anyone interested in playing varsity hockey at a Canadian school. I’d recommend that you share it with your parents as well.

How To Be Recruited As A Varsity Student Hockey Player

Resources

You can download a copy of the slides from the presentation here:

Warriors-Ancaster-Recruiting-PresentationDownload

My Key Takeaways

  1. Always show your jersey number. Don’t tuck in your jersey or let your hair cover up your number and name. (17:05)
  1. They are looking to recruit players who “Love Hockey!“. (23:55)
  1. Recruiting videos: Put some good tunes into your videos. Have fun with it. Arrows and circles are good to help show where you are in game video. We don’t want to just see your highlight reel. Put together some shifts that show your body language and how you react with other players. [Suggestion from Coach Steve: Get someone to shoot an isolation video of a shift or two where you are in the centre of the frame for the entire shift.] Show fun drills and skills. Make it so the coaches want to share your video. (45:29)

Many thanks to Coaches Shaun and Dollee.

Video Index:

Start: Introductions and Welcome. Coach Shaun Reagan’s background.

3:29: Associate Coach Dollee Meig’s background and her participation in the NHL Coaches Association Mentorship Program.

7:07: USports Women’s Hockey Information

8:09: USports and Hockey Canada

9:58: USports Women’s Hockey Fun Facts. Differences between USports and NCAA.

11:46: High Performance USports Hockey – Resources and benefits to players at Waterloo

17:04: Recruiting – What Should I Do?

22:10: Recruiting- What do we look for?

26:57: Finding the Right Fit​ for YOU!

29:57: Funding your Education

33:09: Warrior Women’s Hockey Staff

33:54: Warriors Women’s Hockey Team – Roster size, player information, courses and co-op placements

39:41: What is next? Grow!

41:19: Questions and Answers

41:35: What’s the best way to contact Coach Shaun (or other coaches)? Shaun also gives some insight on the scouting process.

45:28: Tips on putting recruiting videos together. What they like to see.

48:06: What types of questions do you ask players when you interview them?

52:10: Are there things that players should be adding to their daily routines now that will help them?

53:54: Fitness standards and fitness testing

56:38: How do you go about scheduling practices and what does a typical week look like for players?

1:02:00: What is your coaching philosophy?

1:05:00: How the Warriors team likes to play? “We’re all about having fun!“

Today’s Assignment:

For today…

  1. Complete today’s workout on the TeamBuildr app. Be sure to mark each exercise complete as you finish it.
  1. Review the video and write down two key takeaways that you have from the presentation. Include the time code in the video for reference. Post your your answers to the team WhatsApp group.
  1. Post any follow-up questions that you have. I will send them to Coach Keia and get answers for you.