The road running through the London Nationals to NCAA Division I hockey has re-opened.
It had been well over a decade since a player on the Nats roster had received an NCAA scholarship, but Drew Worrad, the team’s 17-year-old leading scorer, changed that this past March. After receiving numerous offers and visiting various campuses, the 6-foot, 173-pound Worrad (Birr, Ont.) accepted a scholarship to play for the Clarkson University Golden Knights beginning in 2016-17.
Clarkson is located in Potsdam, NY and competes in NCAA Hockey’s ECAC Conference against the likes of Harvard, Princeton and Yale.
The Nationals have made it a focus to provide information about College hockey programs to their players and to market them to interested teams. The feeling within the club is that the Worrad commitment is a sign of things to come.
Management held two separate information sessions this season for local players and their parents. The latest was in conjunction with the NCAA’s College Hockey Inc. The club had over 20 Division I schools scout their games this year, and the belief is that they are on the right track to re-establishing the London area as a destination for college recruiters.
With returning players such as Justin Murray, Colin Wilson, Tanner Ferreira and Derek Di Iorio also garnering interest south of the border, the road that has re-opened could get quite busy in the coming years.
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– Submitted by the London Nationals
