Edmonton Inline Player Receives Inline Scholarship to American University
December 06, 2010
Ewen MacPherson started playing inline hockey as a youngster. This past season he was recruited by an American University to attend school and play the game he has excelled at for years. In April 2010 Ewen MacPherson of Sherwood Park, Alberta signed on for the inaugural season of Bethel University’s Inline Hockey Program. AMRHA recently conducted an interview with him to find out how his first year of college is going playing the sport he loves.
AMRHA- Are you the first Canadian to have received an Inline Hockey Scholarship to the states?
Ewen- That’s what I've been told but until I see the stats on that I can’t be certain.
AMRHA- Do you mind if I ask how much the scholarship was for?
Ewen- the scholarship was worth nearly half of my total costs to be here for a year. but depending on team and personal success can only go up for the remainder of my time at Bethel.
AMRHA- How did Bethel University discover you and at what point did they begin scouting you?
Ewen- They saw me playing at State Wars V for Team Alberta. The team happened to be extremely strong allowing me to put up strong personal numbers.
AMRHA- What league do you play in, how many teams/divisions are there?
Ewen- We play in the SECRHL and there are teams all over the states, but I’m not sure on the exact number, but I know its high and competitive.
AMRHA- How is your team doing this year?
Ewen- We opened our inaugural tournament off with a win over Miami University and finished 2-2 on the weekend, but in my opinion could have easily gone 4-0
AMRHA- How are you enjoying the experience at Bethel University, would you recommend it to others?
Ewen- I love it here, it’s an adjustment to go from a larger town of Sherwood Park to a small town like Mckenzie, but the team is extremely close so it’s easy to make and have fun. During weekends both Nashville and Memphis are just a couple hours away and there is plenty to do there.
AMRHA- How would someone who is interested in a opportunity like this get started?
Ewen- Well first of all I would suggest trying out for the higher inline tournaments that travel teams offer. That’s an extremely effective way for scouts to see you for you may travel internationally to American tournaments, such as myself, and that is just great exposure. You also have to make the most of your opportunities and give each and every moment you’re given your very best. The most important thing though is to just have fun with inline and eventually you’ll get rewarded by the hard work you put into it.
AMRHA- How many years can you play in the college system or until what age?
Ewen- There is two ways to look at this. Your allowed ten full semesters if you don’t play for 2 of them, there for you can athletically participate 8 semesters. So what that basically means is that you could, in theory, get red shirted for a year and then play four years on the team after that, giving you 5 full years of school. I, however, will only play 4 cause I don’t see myself getting red shirted.
AMRHA- Once you graduate from the school where do you go from there. Are there any Professional teams in the U.S. or around the world that you could play for?
Ewen- I'm under the impression that there are professional leagues in the US, I got drafted to one of them (PIHA), but I have no idea how these leagues operate and when. You can also choose to go to New Zealand for a year or so and get paid to teach kids down there, I think they also provide you with housing. I'm not sure exactly what I want to do, but if there is some sort of legitimate in-line opportunity passed college I may choose to go in that direction.
AMRHA- Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions and further promote the game of Inline Hockey
Ewen- no problem at all, anything I can do to further grow this amazing sport I am happy to do. Canada is on the cusp of possibly doing special things in it and with further development of our young players, I hope to see schools in Canada possibly choosing to implement in-line programs. Thank you for taking the time do this.
For more information on College Roller Hockey http://ncrha.org/
Keep up to date on Bethel University Wildcat's http://secrhl.org/standings.php?regional_division_id=52
