Rainy River student gets hockey scholarship at Royal Military College of Canada

News Release
RMC

The Royal Military College of Canada Varsity Hockey Team is proud to announce that Ryan McInerney of Rainy River has accepted a Full-Ride Scholarship to attend RMC starting in September 2004.
RMC Hockey Coach Kelly Nobes says “Ryan is an exceptional young man, and we are excited to have him as a part of our program. Ryan has had tremendous success playing with the Lake of the Woods High School in the highly competitive Minnesota State High School Hockey League, and we expect him to carry on that success at RMC.
“With Ryan, we know we are getting a young man who is very gifted on and off the ice. As a young man entering the CIS level of hockey, Ryan will be able to hone his skills and develop his game even further, and we expect that Ryan will play a key role in the success of the RMC Hockey program.”
Head Scout Keri Kettle (RMC ‘97) adds “in choosing RMC, Ryan is entering a truly elite academic institution. There are only 150 Full Scholarships to RMC granted from across the country, placing Ryan in some very select company. I have been especially impressed with his analytic and communication skills.
“Ryan is also a very mature young man. It is no small decision to choose RMC over other universities that offer a less challenging lifestyle, but Ryan is an exceptional person, and we expect that he will thrive at RMC.”
RMC is located in Kingston, Ontario, and has a student population of 900. RMC boasts the most demanding entrance standards of any university in Canada, and has produced such famous Alumni as World War I Ace Billy Bishop, Senators Hartland Molson and Joe Day, and Astronauts Marc Garneau and Chris Hadfield.
Ryan will be enrolled in the Reserve Entry Training Plan - a program that sees him earn approximately $6000 each summer doing officer training, money that will offset the annual $4500 cost of education at RMC. Ryan has been selected to be an Infantry Officer in Canadian Armed Forces, and will leave for Basic Officer Training on June 27th at Fort St-Jean, Quebec, from which he will enter RMC in early September. At RMC, Ryan will be enrolled in a Four-Year Honours Arts degree.
The RMC Hockey Team competes in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), competing against university programs such as McGill, Toronto, and Western Ontario. The league is comprised primarily of former Major Junior players, and the level of competition in CIS Hockey is comparable to many NCAA hockey programs. Current NHLers who have played CIS Hockey include Steve Rucchin (Western Ontario), Cory Cross (Alberta), Mathieu Darche (McGill), and Jody Shelley (Acadia).
Hockey fans in Rainy River and Baudette should mark February 5th, 2005 on their calendars. On that date, two local boys will line up on opposite sides of the most storied international rivalry in hockey when RMC battles Army at West Point, New York. Ryan McInerney will suit up for RMC opposite his former teammate Corey Rudd.
The RMC-Army rivalry dates back to 1923, and is considered the longest continuous international rivalry in sports. This year’s game was featured in Maclean’s Magazine, and the 2005 game will be broadcast live on College Sports Television (CSTV), and a Canadian network to be confirmed.