Who are the Friends of Alberta Junior Hockey Society?
The Friends are a small but active group of people from across the province of Alberta, some of whom were formerly involved with junior hockey in Alberta, or some with no connections to junior hockey, but all with the desire to assist young athletes in their pursuit of a higher education. The main purpose of the society is to raise funds and to assist with the promotion of junior age hockey players to be able to continue to play hockey at a high competitive level while continuing in their goal of a higher education, and to assist the athlete financially in this pursuit.
How do I join the Friends of Alberta Junior Hockey Society?
As a member of the Friends of Alberta Junior Hockey Society, individuals play an important role in assisting young hockey players with financial assistance to be able to continue to pursue their educational goals. We usually have two organizational meetings a year where we elect Board Members and form our committees.
We are looking for general members to help in a couple of areas. We require some assistance when we hold a casino, and when we do our review of our scholarship applications.
For Scholarship Application Review we meet once a year usually around the 3rd week in January in Red Deer to review applications. This is usually combined with one of our organizational meetings.
For Casino Assistance our casinos are every 2 years, so we usually look for help on 1 or 2 days for this event. This is our sole fund raising project, and we usually alternate between Calgary and Edmonton for our casinos. The proceeds from these casinos vary but are usually in the $75,000.00 range for a 2 day event. This allows our group to award about $35,000.00 worth of scholarships each year.
If you are interested in joining the Friends of Alberta Junior Hockey Society please contact us and we will be happy to chat with you to answer any questions you might have.
How do we raise funds to provide financial assistance?
The Friends is a registered non-profit society in the province of Alberta, and as a result, we can hold casinos in Alberta as our major fund raiser. We are also a federally registered charity, and this allows us to approach corporations, or individuals, seeking financial assistance for our scholarship program, and then offer a tax receipt for a donation made to our scholarship foundation program.
What scholarships are available?
There are 2 separate scholarship programs available to individuals who have played, or are currently playing, junior hockey in Alberta.
1. The Alberta Junior Athletic Award. This program is administered jointly with the Alberta Heritage Scholarship fund, and the Friends of Alberta Junior Hockey Society. There are a maximum of 10 scholarships awarded each year, each valued at $2000.00. They are jointly funded by both groups.
2. The Friends of Alberta Junior Hockey Scholarships. There is no yearly limit as to the number awarded, and the scholarships range in value from $1500.00 to $2000.00 each. Scholarships are available to players, team therapists, and on ice officials.
What is the criteria for applications to be submitted?
1. Alberta Junior Athletic Award applicants must be taking a FULL course load, in the year of application, at a recognized post secondary school in Alberta. They must also be a currently carded member of a junior hockey club in Alberta. The applicant must attach a current fall semester transcript complete with makes received in the courses taken.
2. Friends Scholarship applicants must be enrolled in a recognized post-secondary education program in Alberta, and taking a minimum of 3 courses during the year of application. They must be currently a carded player with a junior hockey team in Alberta in the year of application, or, having played junior hockey in Alberta, be attending a post secondary school in Alberta. Applicants are eligible for application after graduation from junior eligibility, on the basis of one year after age eligibility for each year of tenure of at least 30 games per season with a junior team. Applicants must attach a current fall transcript complete with grades received to the application.
What are the time frames for application?
The time frame to apply is a little different for each scholarship program. Applications for each program are separate forms, and the deadline for submission for the Alberta Junior Athletic Award applications is January 15 of the current hockey year in which your application is being submitted.
The Friends applications open on Dec 31 with the deadline for the Friends scholarship applications being January 15 of the current hockey year in which your application is being submitted. Please note that: all applications must be accompanied with at least two years of transcripts, one of which must be the current year’s transcript of marks.
Summary:
Scholarships are available to any player currently carded to a junior team in the province of Alberta, and currently enrolled in a recognized post-secondary school is Alberta. This includes a player who has played for a junior hockey team in Alberta, but has since graduated from junior hockey due to the age eligibility rule. The criteria is that they must be enrolled in a recognized post-secondary school in Alberta, and they are eligible to apply after junior age eligibility has been reached for each year that they played a minimum of 30 games of junior hockey for a team in Alberta.