February 15, 2005
Illinois Ice
Just because girls don't have to deal with the grind of junior hockey - practically a necessity for their male counterparts who aspire to play college hockey someday - doesn't mean that the road to Division I or III is an easy one.
Even by subtracting juniors from the equation, the leap to the next level can be an overwhelming one for even the most talented players who seemingly have the most options available to them.
Combining an entrepreneurial mindset with the desire to steer young athletes in uncharted waters to the college scenario that best suits their needs, the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) is a resource that Lisa Meyers wishes she had at her disposal back in her high school days.
After playing four years of hockey at Yale and another one in Switzerland after graduation, Meyers is back in Chicago and still makes time for the occasional pickup game. She is close to women's college hockey once again, but this time in a different capacity. Lisa is a Recruiting Coach with NCSA, and organization that helps college coaches identify and assess high school student-athletes while helping the student-athlete identify and assess the colleges they're best suited for based on athletic, academic and financial factors.
Responsible for helping both male and female athletes find the best college fit in both hockey and soccer, she can relate to both sides of the coin - some heavy coin considering the cost of college nowadays. One look at the tuition bill from an Ivy League college suddenly makes the costs of outfitting a travel player seem like a relative bargain.
"It would've helped me so much, " said Meyers, who enjoys being a resource that was once unavailable to her. "We help guide student-athletes through the process. It can be overwhelming talking to coaches, not knowing how many visits to take, what questions to ask on them. When I was on my official visits, I wasn't quite as educated as I could have been. But I was fortunate and got lucky."
"We put together a player profile and distribute it to the coaches who are realistic to them," explains Meyers, a Skokie Flyers and Shooting Stars alum, the latter being the first girl's team in Illinois. "While we notify coaches about players, it's ultimately up to the players to do the research on their own and respond to any inquiries."
