The beginning of the book, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, focuses on the two finest teams in the Canadian Hockey League (finest junior hockey league). Those two teams being, the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Vancouver Giants. Canadian hockey is a class of skilled men which experts have noticed the roster of both teams beings seventeen-eighteen-, and nineteen-year-olds who have been skating since they were 2 to 4 years old. Thousands of young Canadian boys begin to play hockey at the beginner level. From there on, there are leagues for every age class, and at each of those levels, the players are sorted and
evaluated by ability and talent. By the time these Canadian boys hit the midteens, they are transferred to an elite league known as Major Junior A, which is the very best of the best. Major Junior A Hockey is the way coaches pick their future NFL stars. This is where I found my quote. It is not easy to make it into the NHL. As it is, its even hard to make it to the Major Junior A team.
I found a website that emphasis' how hard it is to make it to the NHL. Some interesting facts I found were, out of the select 30,000 players experts studied, 48 were drafted by a NHL team, and 39 of those 48 actually signed contracts with an NHL team. Of that 39, only 32 actually played in the NHL, and only 15 players of those 32 played more than one full season. Finally, of that 15 only six played the minimum 400 games to qualify for the NHL player pension. This shows how extremely hard it is to get into the NHL. It also shows of those 39 who signed contracts with different teams must have been completely dedicated to hockey and played to their best ability. Sports is something that is never handed to us athletes. For example, maybe in high school if your dad is the track coach, or your great cousin is the principal, maybe you could have a connection to get on varsity. But, that doesn't matter. It is all about your ability, dedication, and skill. Just because someone may have a "connection" doesn't mean they are going to get far in the sport. It all depends on the athlete they really are.
How hard is it to get into the NHL?
This connects to be because I do competitive cheerleading. When I say competitive, I really mean competitive. Not only is it competitive against other teams, but it is also competitive against other teammates. Competitive cheerleading is where coaches put together a routine and us cheerleaders have to compete the routine at different competitions and be the best of the best. Together we compete as a team but every teammate is competitive towards each other. There is five levels in cheerleading. One being the lowest level and five being the highest level. It is hard to get to level 5. It requires an immense amount of skill and determination. Level 5 teams have the chance to go to a competition called "Worlds". Worlds is where everyone from across the world, including Japan, China, Brazil, etc. come together and compete against each other. This connected to me because I have been competitive cheerleading since I was years old. I started at the bottom and over the years I worked tirelessly, determined to make it to the top. My coaches pushed me to my best ability. Same with major league hockey, it doesn't matter who your father or mother is or who your grandfather was, or what business your family is in, cheerleading is something you have to work for to get to the top. I feel as though, that is the same for every sport. If you put 110 percent into what you do, you will get rewarded for it.
I found a website that emphasis' how hard it is to make it to the NHL. Some interesting facts I found were, out of the select 30,000 players experts studied, 48 were drafted by a NHL team, and 39 of those 48 actually signed contracts with an NHL team. Of that 39, only 32 actually played in the NHL, and only 15 players of those 32 played more than one full season. Finally, of that 15 only six played the minimum 400 games to qualify for the NHL player pension. This shows how extremely hard it is to get into the NHL. It also shows of those 39 who signed contracts with different teams must have been completely dedicated to hockey and played to their best ability. Sports is something that is never handed to us athletes. For example, maybe in high school if your dad is the track coach, or your great cousin is the principal, maybe you could have a connection to get on varsity. But, that doesn't matter. It is all about your ability, dedication, and skill. Just because someone may have a "connection" doesn't mean they are going to get far in the sport. It all depends on the athlete they really are.
How hard is it to get into the NHL?
This connects to be because I do competitive cheerleading. When I say competitive, I really mean competitive. Not only is it competitive against other teams, but it is also competitive against other teammates. Competitive cheerleading is where coaches put together a routine and us cheerleaders have to compete the routine at different competitions and be the best of the best. Together we compete as a team but every teammate is competitive towards each other. There is five levels in cheerleading. One being the lowest level and five being the highest level. It is hard to get to level 5. It requires an immense amount of skill and determination. Level 5 teams have the chance to go to a competition called "Worlds". Worlds is where everyone from across the world, including Japan, China, Brazil, etc. come together and compete against each other. This connected to me because I have been competitive cheerleading since I was years old. I started at the bottom and over the years I worked tirelessly, determined to make it to the top. My coaches pushed me to my best ability. Same with major league hockey, it doesn't matter who your father or mother is or who your grandfather was, or what business your family is in, cheerleading is something you have to work for to get to the top. I feel as though, that is the same for every sport. If you put 110 percent into what you do, you will get rewarded for it.
Cool! That is something that I didn't know about you. Do you intend to pursue this in college as well?
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