Saugerties High School’s Trevor Bodie drafted in first round by New Jersey Rockets

Trevor Bodie, a 16-year-old Saugerties High School senior, was drafted last month by the New Jersey Rockets of the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC), a high-level junior league of the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL).

Bodie was taken seventh in the first round during the mid-May draft, during which over 200 players were chosen by the NCDC’s 18 teams, spread across three divisions. The Rockets, which has served as a collegiate-level developmental club since 1970, call the Bridgewater Sports Arena home, and are among six teams in the Atlantic Division. Conveniently for Bodie, the Rockets are a little over 25 miles southwest of the Prudential Center in Newark, where his favorite National Hockey League team the New Jersey Devils play.

“I’ll be like literally 20, 30 minutes from there,” said Bodie.

Bodie has been on skates almost as long as he’s been able to stand, playing hockey “basically since I was three or four years old.”

Since he first began skating, Bodie has been a fixture at the Kiwanis Ice Arena in Saugerties, one of the only indoor rinks in the Hudson Valley. Bodie’s dad, Shawn Bodie, was president of the Saugerties Youth Hockey Association when he was growing up, and Trevor spent Saturday mornings with the SYHA’s Learn to Play program.

Later, Bodie played for the Saugerties Mustangs travel teams until he was 12, when he transitioned up to the AAA level. Prior to being drafted by the Rockets, Bodie was most recently a member of the CP Dynamo out of Clifton Park, though he has always kept a hand in with the Mustangs, helping out at practices and playing drop in games. He also recently captained a team in the 13 Strong charity tournament in honor of Ethan Burke.

While Burke loves hockey, he’s also a very strong student, graduating a year early as a member of the SHS Class of 2024. He’ll spend the next year with the Rockets in the NCDC, a tuition-free junior hockey division geared toward NCAA Division I collegiate development placement and more.

“Our goal is to move players directly to high-level college opportunities or to advance them to that tier one USHL level if they’re young enough,” said Matt Morrow, Rockets’ head coach and GM. Morrow and Bodie first crossed paths in Canada West Elite, a summer program that bring national and international players together in the Boston area. Morrow was Bodie’s coach in the showcase tournament, and he was impressed.

“When…