In 2017, I read and loved From Cradle to Stage, the book by Dave Grohl’s mom in which she shared the stories of the “mothers who rocked and raised rock stars.” It has since become a popular documentary series. After meeting the hockey families of the 2024 USA team at the IIHF World Juniors Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden, I found myself thinking about not only how many of these young men had grown up together playing with and against each other but also how their families had been influenced by youth hockey. As a higher education researcher, this musing soon turned into academic curiosity and a multi-faceted study was born. This book is the result. I feel the need to write it now because the players on both the 2024 and 2025 USA teams at the IIHF World Juniors Championship represented several NCAA D1 hockey teams, and many of these teams had amazing years – winning their conference tournaments and/or advancing to the Final Four. Some of the WJC team USA players started their NHL careers immediately after the NCAA tournament in April 2024 (and likely will in April 2025).

This book starts with a focus on the members of the gold-medal winning 2024 USA team at the IIHF World Juniors Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden who were actively playing NCAA D1 hockey at the time of the WJC. I then expand the focus to explore the hockey pathways (peewee and youth hockey teams and tournaments played, high school/prep school hockey experiences, USHL and other leagues) of them and their NCAA D1 hockey college teammates to get a picture of the network. The primary focus remained on the cohort of players born in 2004 and 2005, which were the ages playing in the 2024 WJC, but also brings in additional members of their high-performing teams during 2023-24. Additionally, the full 2024-25 rosters of the 59 teams represented in the AHA, Big 10, CCHA, ECAC, Hockey East, and NCHC were captured and the focus expanded to players in birth years 2004 through 2007.

I am an educational researcher, not an investigative journalist. This book seeks to capture, understand, and make available the experiences as understood and interpreted by the participants who shared them with me. As such, each participant will have the opportunity to review and edit/redact any information they are not comfortable having shared publicly. I have experience preparing edited volumes for publication and would be happy to work with anyone interested in authoring their own narrative; I am also ready to convert your interview data into a written chapter for you if you prefer.

This book will combine different social science research methods to answer the proposed questions about player pathways, motivations, and family experiences. Specifically, Social Network Analysis will be used to map the overlapping team/tournament experiences of players and explore the connections between players over time. Publicly available data was retrieved from Elite Prospects, the college team websites, USA Hockey, and similar sources. Survey research collected data from a large number of men’s ice hockey players at NCAA D1 schools to explore relationships between how they score aspects of their identity and their academic motivation, college athletic motivation, and career athletic motivation. Interviews will collect rich, descriptive narratives from a subset of these players about their perspectives on their motivations, identity, and trajectories. Interviews, potentially combined with focus groups, will also collect the stories of key informants in these players’ lives, whether parents, siblings, other relatives, friends, coaches, etc. Focus groups and interviews will take place over Zoom during the summer (families, other informants, and available players) or fall (players unavailable during the summer). I predict needing at least two hours with most informants to hear full histories and experiences, and these could take place over multiple calls if desired.

This independent study is not funded or endorsed by any entity. I contacted the NCAA’S research division prior to starting the study to ensure that I was not violating any NCAA rules regarding players’ compensation, but their response (my plans are permitted by the NCAA rules) does not imply endorsement of the project. The NCAA did not provide any data for this project. While I draw publicly available data from USA Hockey, College Hockey, Inc., and Elite Prospects, none of these entities are affiliated with this study. Likewise, publicly available data was collected from the official college team websites, none of whom are affiliated with this study. I submitted the study protocol for the player survey and interviews to an Internal Review Board for review of Human Subjects’ protections, and the study was found to be exempt from external IRB oversight.

Considerable information about me can be found in the “About Us” page of this website. As additional contributors are secured, the details they wish shared will be made available here. In summer 2024, project researchers Collin Patterson (UMass Dartmouth/Utica University) and Jay Fowler (Viera HS) compiled players’ pathway data, which will support the Social Network Analysis.

Study title: Motivations and Perspectives of NCAA D1 Men’s Ice Hockey Players: A Mixed Methods Study

Researcher: Kate Winter, PhD; Principal Consultant and Senior Researcher, Kate Winter Evaluation, LLC

Researcher Statement: I’m inviting you to take a survey for research. Participation is voluntary. There are no negative consequences if you don’t want to participate. If you start the survey, you can always change your mind and stop at any time.

What is the purpose of this study? I want to understand why NCAA D1 Men’s Ice Hockey players choose to play hockey at the college level and the value they see in the experience.

What will you do? This survey will ask questions about how you define your identity, your motivations, and perceptions of the value of both your academic and athletic efforts. The survey will take about 5 minutes.

Risks: The survey is anonymous and any potentially identifying details you share will be masked to hide your identity. There are no predicted risks associated with completing the survey.

Possible benefits: You could potentially benefit from reflection on your motivations, otherwise, there are no direct benefits predicted. Ideally, research findings will inform how NCAA D1 institutions recruit and support the success of their ice hockey players.

Estimated number of participants: Up to 300 NCAA D1 Men’s Ice Hockey players

How long will it take? About 5 minutes

Costs: None

Compensation: Participants will receive a $25 Amazon gift card (or Venmo) and be entered into a raffle for one of twenty $200 prepaid MC/Visa e-cards (Fall 2024 study) or one of five $200 prepaid Visa e-cards (or Venmo – Spring 2025 study).

Future research: Your data won’t be used or shared for any future research studies.

Confidentiality and Data Security: Your data is being collected anonymously and will only be available to me using a password-protected file and computer. I may share findings in publications or presentations, but individual data will not be shared.

How long will data be kept? Survey data will be kept for 5 years after publication.

Who can see the data? Only I will have access to your data.

Questions about the research, complaints, or problems: Contact Kate Winter, (703) 574-3746, kate@katewinterevaluation.com, WhatsApp: +436604325644.    This study has been reviewed by an institutional review board (IRB), which is a committee that has reviewed this research study to help ensure that your rights and welfare as a research participant are protected and that the research study is carried out in an ethical manner.    Please print or save this screen if you want to be able to access the information later.