Game On Magazine 2017 Nov Game On low res | Page 34

PROFILE
JAMES
VA N D E R V E L D E
Cultivating
LAND
ICE
and
3 4 | G AM E ON | N OVEM BER 2017
B Y J O H N P L O S Z AY
Photos by Jeff Miller, James Carey
Lauder and Laurie Anderson
These days, the modern
farm relies on GPS and
computers, and makes the
best possible use of science
and technology to produce
higher yields.
The modern hockey player
is well educated, watches
his health and always has a
backup plan. Today’s player
doesn’t put all his eggs in one
basket. After all, the game is
too competitive and careers
are too short.
And all of that sums up the
story behind one of the best
defensemen in the Manitoba
Major Junior Hockey League:
No. 26 of the Pembina Valley
Twisters, James Van Der Velde.
This is a guy who has a
lot of options. A 6-foot-1,
200-pound righthanded
shooting defenseman from
Mariapolis, Man., hockey
has been in his blood for as
long as he can remember.
He started out playing in
Swan Lake as a youngster
and continued playing there
right into high school.
His dad Steven coached
him through his formative
years and he recalls playing
throughout his youth with his
cousin Colt Conrad, now a star
with Andy Murray’s Western
Michigan University Broncos.
Playing for the Bantam
Triple AAA Pembina Valley
Hawks, Van Der Velde’s team
won the Manitoba Provincials
and went on to play in
the Western Canadians in
Edmonton, winning bronze.
Although James was taken
in the Bantam Draft by the
Portage Terriers, education
played the deciding role in his
decision to forego a hockey
career with the Terriers and,
later, the Blues of the MJHL in
favour of high school hockey
at St. John’s Ravenscourt in
Grades 10 to 12. A young man
with education at the top of
his list, he not only attended
one of the premiere prep
schools in Canada, he’s now
in one of the top Business
Schools in the country.