Quote:
Originally Posted by Call me Birdsler
American gridiron football and american basketball do not have a junior development program for professional players like other major team sports. Soccer has many development leagues for juniors that are often auxiliary to top tier clubs. Hockey also has development he leagues through North America such as the Ontario Hockey League or Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
These regional sports like gridiron football rely on the NCAA university system to development professional players. It's a very unique system.
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Major Junior hockey is not much better than NCAA. They finally pay stipends and there is the tuition money for college. Still, major junior hockey follows the "don't pay the talent" model. The seasons are 68 games long and some of the teams draw 8000-10000 per game. The stipends are less than $500/month during the season.