An Okotoks Oiler rookie has proved his mettle by digging in the corners and getting his nose dirty in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. However, the six-foot-one, 200-pound Rhett Holland cowers when he gets a tongue-lashing from a five-foot-two, 105-pounder who wears a dress now and then.

Okotoks Oilers Michael Matyas and Rhett Holland study from their Pure Math 30 and Social Studies 20 textbooks respectively at the Holy Trinity Academy library on Thursday. The pair has received $1,500 academic scholarships from the Alberta Junior Hockey League. photo by Bruce Campbell

Holland’s helper is Tara Epp, the learning strategies coordinator at Holy Trinity Academy (HTA) in Okotoks.

“We skipped mass one time and then Ms. Epp set us straight,” Holland said. “Garry (Oilers coach Garry VanHereweghe) heard about it and we got sat for the first 10 minutes of the game. We haven’t had any problems since.”

Going to mass and getting some gentle urging from Epp and the HTA staff can’t hurt, because when you are trying to combine hitting the books and hitting the ice in Junior A hockey, one needs all the help they can get.

The help is paying off.

Holland and Oiler goalie Mike Matyas received $1,500 scholarships during the Alberta Junior Hockey League all-star weekend in January.

It’s a grind being both a high-level hockey player and student.

“It is tough making the jump to Junior A and then going to school,” Holland said. “In AAA Midget you are playing just over 30 games and this year, we’re playing 62. So it can be difficult to keep your energy up.”

Holland said he tries to crack the books when the team is on road trips. He admitted when the Oilers play a rare home game on a school night, he doesn’t hit the books when he gets home.

“I will just go straight to bed,” he said. “One of the keys for me is trying to get to bed early so I’m ready for school, but it’s easier said than done.”

Like all high school students in the foothills, Matyas and Holland just finished writing final exams. Holy Trinity Academy isn’t about to change an exam schedule for a student just because they had a hockey game.

“I missed a couple of pre-game skates in the morning because I had exams,” Matyas said. “Then I would go to practice and as soon as I got home I would hit the books.”

As a goalie, Matyas has to put a bad goal behind him. He can’t let it bother him on the ice or later when he has to study.

“Sometimes when I get home, I go to study and it’s hard to concentrate because I have had a bad game,” Matyas said.

So why not go to Coach VanHereweghe and ask for a night off because of homework?

“No, never, that would never happen,” Matyas, said with a laugh. “I just love to play. School is really important, but you have to learn to fit it in so you can play. Playing is a lot more fun, for sure.”

Matyas added if a student needs to cram the night before, he or she is likely in a lot of trouble when they sit down to write the exam.

Epp isn’t the only one looking over their shoulders to ensure their studies are in step. Matyas and Holland said their billets also keep a close eye on their studies.

Matyas and Holland are full-time equivalent students at HTA and these aren’t stereotypical jocks. Like the majority of players in the Alberta Junior Hockey League the Oilers are striving to get university scholarships, which means they aren’t taking Basket Weaving 20.

Holland is taking Physics 20 and Social Studies 20 and a construction course. Matyas will be able to figure out the hypotenuse on the angle of the slapshot coming his way by the time he leaves HTA. The Grade 12 student is taking Pure Math 30, Social Studies 30, English 30 and he just finished writing his Physics 30 exam.

Holland estimated his grade percentage at around 75 to 80 per cent while Matyas is in the high 80s.

They give a lot of the credit for their academic success to HTA.

“I love the school,” Matyas said. “The teachers are nice, the students are great.”

Both Oilers also take the time to tutor other students at school.

VanHereweghe also credits HTA for keeping his players up to snuff academically. He is in touch with Epp concerning the players’ grades on a regular basis.

He added the Oilers had a good relationship with Foothills Composite High School earlier in the team’s history, but class scheduling was more difficult at the Comp and as a result the team has opted to send its players to HTA.

Meanwhile, Matyas would love to have no choice but to graduate from HTA in June, rather than return to school in Calgary.

“If we go deep in the playoffs we wouldn’t be done until late May or so,” Matyas said. “Then it would just make sense to stay at HTA.”

The Oilers also have a program with HTA in which players are taught strategies on writing the scholastic aptitude test (SAT), which is the standardized test for college admission in the United States.

The Oilers have three players on their rosters who have made commitments to U.S. colleges including Quinn Sproule, Derek Rodwell and goalie Sean Cahill.

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