When Jodi Alferd first took her young son to Mountain View Ice Arena, she did not dream that granting a request from 3-year-old Riley would lead to years separated from her son.
Seventeen years later, as Riley heads to college, she understands that years of sacrifice are being rewarded.
Riley Alferd, a 2013 Evergreen High graduate, is heading to the University of Nebraska-Omaha to play college hockey for a program that this spring reached the NCAA Frozen Four.
His passion for hockey was sparked by the Mighty Ducks animated television series and his journey to Omaha began playing youth hockey at Mountain View Ice Arena. Then, six years ago, Alferd left his Vancouver home to play with an elite team in Los Angeles.
After three years in Southern California, Alferd played one season with the Muskegon (Mich.) Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League. He spent the last two seasons with Penticton in the British Columbia Hockey League, capping his junior hockey career by playing in the RBC Cup — Canada’s junior hockey national championship.
“It’s a Hockey Canada event, so it’s a big deal,” Alferd said. “Every game is against a great team in a sold-out rink. It’s an unreal feeling.”
Alferd’s junior hockey career ended with a double-overtime loss in the tournament semifinals.
As Jodi Alferd had so many times over the past six years, the hockey mom made the trip to watch her son play. She never really adjusted to sending her son in chase of his dreams.
“I can’t honestly say I ever got used to it,” Jodi said, adding that at times she wished she had not led Riley watch the Mighty Ducks cartoon. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Nobody wants to allow their child to leave the family at 14.”
Todd Alferd, Riley’s dad, said the decision to let Riley move to Southern California came after researching alternatives including one in the Seattle area. When his son shined at tryouts for the L.A. Selects bantam team, Todd said he felt better about the decision.
Phone calls and Internet visits kept the family connected, and Riley kept his part of the bargain by getting good grades.
And his hockey career flourished.
In three seasons in Los Angeles, his team once played for a national title and two other years lost in the national semifinals. Among his teammates with the L.A. Selects was future Portland Winterhawk Chase De Leo.
After his 16-year-old season, the Portland Winterhawks offered Alferd a spot. Once again, the family faced a difficult choice.
“It was a decision I went back and forth on for probably four months,” Riley said.
Playing for the Winterhawks would allow him to return home — a real selling point for Jodi — and to play for a team he grew up rooting for.
But the decision was no no-brainer.
Alferd knew what the Western Hockey League offered. He also knew signing with the Winterhawks would mean giving up the chance to play college hockey. He had seen college hockey while traveling with his youth teams and enjoyed the high the energy in the arenas.
“I was gone for most of my high school (years), and I wanted to go to college and experience that,” Alferd said.
Also factoring into his decision was his hockey future. A 5-foot-11, 175-pound center, Alferd said that four years of college hockey will give him time to mature physically before trying professional hockey.
“I’m not a very big guy so the way I look at it, if I only play 36 games a year that gives me more time to work out in the gym, because to play in the NHL you’re playing against men every night,” Alferd said. “I just didn’t feel if I played four years in the Western League, at 20 I wouldn’t be ready to play in the NHL.”
So instead, Alferd headed to Muskegon. After one season there, he moved to Penticton Vees of the BCHL. In the 2014-15 season, Alferd was the only Vee to play in all 80 games including playoffs. He produced 24 goals and 29 assists.
Now he is off to college, where he will play in the competitive National Collegiate Hockey Conference for a program opening a new on-campus arena after reaching college hockey’s 2015 national semifinals.
“Omaha was the perfect fit,” he said. “Obviously it’s a good program. And they play in a very tough conference. That’s who you want to play against — the best teams.”
Seeking the best coaching and the best competition sent Riley Alferd to California as a young teen, to Canada after high school, and now to the Midwest to study business and finance while continuing to grow as a hockey player.
“He’s got part of that dream of his met,” Jodi said. “All I did was try to support that dream as a parent.”
Hockey team seeks host families
The Vancouver Rangers, a junior hockey team that will call Mountain View Ice Arena home in 2015-16, is looking for host families.
The team will play in the Western States Hockey League and include players ages 16 to 20 from around the world.
Host families will receive $350 per month for each player, season tickets to Rangers home games and the opportunity to participate in other team functions.
To learn more, contact Kelly Chavez at 360-601-8345 or by email to hwkemum@gmail.com.
To learn about player tryouts and sponsorship opportunities, send email to Chad Olson, colson@vancouverrangers.com.
