Nolan Marshall is heading to the Division 3 NCAA ManhattanvIlle College to play for the Valiants.
If you can make it there you can make it anywhere!
The bright lights of the big city are beckoning for Nolan Marshall as he signs on to play hockey for Mahattanville College.
Nolan, son of Melanie and David finished up his junior hockey career after playing four years with the Camrose Kodiaks. Last week he made a decision on his next step in hockey and in life.
“It is a great opportunity for me, I am going to be taking business in New York City, and I don’t think you can really go wrong with that,” said a seemingly relieved Nolan. On the floor of the family living room are piles of packages from colleges and universities he has been poring through. “There is lots of opportunity.”
The Manhattanville Valiants play in Division 3 of the NCAA, are regularly ranked in the top 20 and play in the tough Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The name may be familiar with Drumhellerites as former Drumheller Dragon A.J. Mikkelsen also played in the inner city college.
“They are a very well known Division 3 team,” said Nolan.
Nolan began his hockey career in Drumheller as a Raptor and was coached by his father. When he was 13, he moved to Kelowna to go to the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy. This was a big step for the young man to live away from home with a billet family.
The next season he played AAA Bantam with the Airdrie Extreme. The next season he moved to Caronport, Saskatchewan to play Midget AAA tier 1 with the Cougars. The following season he came back to Alberta to play for the AAA Midget Bisons out of Strathmore.
Despite being drafted by the Moose Jaw Warriors in the 2007 Bantam Draft, he decided to play Junior A so hockey would not interfere with his NCAA eligibility.
“I always thought that education is important as there is only a small percentage that make it in this game. I felt if I went through the AJHL and NCAA I would develop more and by the time I am 24 or 25 maybe I’ll get an offer to play in the pros or go to Europe. And I’ll have an education,” said Nolan.
After bouncing around from team to team, he found his junior hockey home with the Camrose Kodiaks and played out his entire Junior Hockey career. He is third for all time most games played for the Kodiaks. In 2011, when Camrose hosted the RBC Cup, he had the experience to play national competition.
Nolan is looking forward to playing in New York. While it is a long way from home, the NCAA often has a strong contingent of Canadian players. In fact, his coach is from Saskatchewan and was Mikkelsen’s roommate when he played for Manhattanville.
His parents are proud to see their son work so hard for such an opportunity.
‘It has been a long road, but now we know he has direction that he can carry on with,” said David.