PROFILE
M AT T H E W
WISENER
The Smartest
Kid in the Room
B Y S C O T T TAY L O R
Photos by Bruce Fedyck
8 4 | G AME ON | PL AYOF F EDITION 2018
For Brad Purdie, the head coach
of the RHA Bantam Elite hockey
team, the educational goals of
his players takes precedence
above their hockey goals.
Sure, we see the eye-rolls
all over the province, but as
Purdie points out, the Rink
Hockey Academy is, indeed,
an “academy” and the Bantam
“Prep” program is not only
preparation for the next level
of hockey, but also the next
level of his players’ education.
“School is No. 1 for us,” Purdie
said without apology. “In our
Canadian Sport School Hockey
League, making sure the players
do well in school is the No. 1
mandate for all the programs.
We take that very seriously here.
“We ask our guys to maintain
a certain average and a lot
of our guys have done that.
It’s important for us and it’s
always important for our
parents that we stay on top
of the players. So we do study
hall, whether it’s here or on
the road. We’re constantly
getting updates from the
school, progress reports, report
cards, so if there are any red
flags we know about it and
we address it right away.”
If there is one player on
Purdie’s own team -- a team
that is an eyepopping 21-4-3
this season – who buys into
the education-first creed,
it’s a 5-foot-9, 140-pound
forward named Matthew
Wisener. It’s very likely, he’s
the smartest kid in the room.