NAHL concludes another successful FPT series
May 13, 2015
Another successful season of the NAHL Future Prospects Tournament (FPT) has come and gone, which included this past weekend’s event at The Rinks Anaheim Ice in Anaheim, California.
The Future Prospects Tournament is an innovative and unique event designed to provide the younger developing teenage hockey player with an experience that will prepare and expose them to the future paths of the NAHL developmental hockey ladder.
The FPT provided the NAHL experience to 136 selected players of 1999-2002 birth years. The weekend consisted of a round-robin tournament for each age group in front of dozens of Tier I youth, junior and college coaches. In addition, NAHL Director of Player Personnel Craig Barnett made presentations to players and parents on NCAA Compliance and Education, as well as, an introduction to junior hockey.
As part of the introduction of junior hockey presentation, NAHL coaches and scouts participated in a Q&A with the group to help prepare families to make informative decisions down the road with the many options they may receive as elite hockey players.
“I think the consensus was that each event keeps getting better and better and we continue to try and improve and enhance the experience each place we go,” said Coordinator of Player Personnel Craig Barnett, who is heading up the two events. “There was some very positive feedback from the coaches, scouts and staff about the competitiveness on the ice, which led to some very entertaining games. The presentations also engaged dozens of players and parents into extended conversations with us.”
One of the parents at the event was Irvine, California resident Kathleen Hallal. Her son, Theodore Hallal was one of the participants in the camp. “My son had a great time and found the competition very challenging. I think a lot of the parents here are completely new and unfamiliar with how junior hockey works and so the presentations were very helpful and I was pleased to see so much focus and emphasis on the educational component. It is one thing for our son’s to hear it from us, but it is totally different when he hears it from professionals in the field and the coaches.”
The Future Prospects Tournament (FPT) Series is designed to provide exposure and education for hockey players that strive to play junior hockey in a premier league like the NAHL. Entering its 40th anniversary season in 2015-16, the NAHL is one of the top junior leagues under the USA Hockey umbrella. Over 220+ players make NCAA commitments annually which proves that the NAHL is one of the best at developing its players and ultimately providing an opportunity to move onto the next level. This is due in large part to the unique and established league-wide events schedule and ladder of development model, which continues to draw attention and praise from the entire hockey community, most notably college and professional scouts.
At the event, players will be introduced and exposed to junior hockey and in particular, the NAHL, NA3HL as well as the NAPHL (Tier I Midget Hockey). The players will be introduced to and provided with a weekend that involves the ‘NAHL Experience,’ which will consist of competitive hockey, education of the future levels of hockey, academic preparation for NCAA hockey and exposure to professional, college, and junior scouts. This includes seminars that discuss the NAHL junior hockey experience, the ladder of development, as well as, NCAA compliance seminars. Guest speakers will include those from the NAHL and NCAA.
