A Message from the CCHL Director of Education – Jonathan Calof, PhD
Full Professor, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa
calof@telfer.uottawa.ca
613-228-0509
A greeting to all our players, their families, supporters, teachers and all others interested in and committed to the academic success of our players. The CCHL puts a lot of emphasis on the academic performance of its players and have a variety of personnel and programs in place to help. At the team level, each team has an academic advisor (listed below) and a range of academic support programs and policies including SAT preparation assistance. Many teams require mandatory school attendance, even for their university and college age players. We provide regular recognition for those players that combine excellence in the classroom and on the ice through monthly academic players of the month (high school and post-secondary) and at the end of the year academic all-star teams and an academic player of the year award.
The CCHL is proud of how academically successful so many of our players are with numerous academic awards, success with SAT’s and ACT’s, and many players with averages above 80%. We are also proud of the large and growing number of CCHL players who have received offers and are playing for USports and NCAA programs. Last year for example we had more than 50 of our players with accepted NCAA (Division 1 and 3), USports and Canadian college offers – among the top number per team in the country.
My role as academic director is to liaise with teams academic advisors who in turn work with the players, and parents to help our players make the most of their Central Hockey League opportunity from an educational perspective. While the coaches do their best to help the players improve on the ice, it the team academic advisors and myself assist the players improve academically off the ice. What does this involve?
- Discussing University and College options
- Assisting in course selections for High School, University or College to make sure they remain eligible to continue playing hockey in University and college.
- Helping to enroll the player in appropriate classes
- Monitoring player academic progress
- Moving players through the maze of rules and regulations at post-secondary educational institutions to help them develop an appropriate course schedule
- Providing on our CCHL website a list of links to both USports and NCAA materials to help maintain academic eligibility.
The CCHL provides the opportunity for players to move on to USports and NCAA through a host of academic programs but it is up to the players themselves to take advantage of these. My team of team academic advisors and myself are there to support all our players as seek to maximize their educational opportunities and move to the next level.
As a final note, Covid-19 has posed enormous challenges for both the CCHL and the educational system. NCAA eligibility rules are adapting to the environment and we are staying informed about these changes. The situation is fluid and the team academic advisors and I are there to answer our players’ questions. I can be reached at calof@telfer.uottawa.ca and each of our players should be aware of how to contact their teams academic advisor. We have also provided a lot of information about academic eligibility under the academic information tab of the CCHL website. Be sure to check the USports and NCAA links before selecting high school, college or university courses.
Regards
Jonathan Calof
CCHL Director of Education
Full Professor, Telfer School of Management
Team | Academic Advisor | Contact information |
Brockville Braves | Jaime McDougall | j.mcdougall86@hotmail.com |
Carleton Place Canadians | Gary McGee | Gary.McGee@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca |
Cornwall Colts | Georges Bougie | ian.macinnis@cornwallcolts.com |
Cornwall Colts | Keif Orsini | keif.orsini@rapidhockey.com |
Hawkesbury Hawks | Ryan Cunning | rccunning@hotmail.com |
Kanata Lasers | Ian Henderson | ihenderson@kanatalasers.com |
Kemptville 73’s | Kristin Popovics-Kealey | kristin.kealey@gmail.com |
Navan Grads | Bill Walsh | william.walsh@ocsb.ca |
Nepean Raiders | Sean Bamford | sean.bamford20@gmail.com |
Ottawa Junior Senators | Jamie Mayo | jpmayo70@gmail.com |
Pembroke Lumber Kings | Keith Roach | roachk@rcdsb.on.ca |
Rockland Nationals | Charles Lavigne | charles.lavigne31@gmail.com |
Smiths Falls Bears | Robert Dopson | rdopson@huntanddopson.com |