The Drayton Valley Thunder of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) are excited to announce that 2008-born defenceman Tafari Chingwaru has committed to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).
The RPI Engineers play in the NCAA’s Division I, as a member of ECAC Hockey division.
Chingwaru, the 6’0, 185lb defenceman joined the Thunder this season after playing his last year with the Northern Alberta Extreme (NAX) U17 prep team. Playing 29 regular season games, Tafari accumulated 21 points (5G, 16A) and 62 penalty minutes.
Tafari is the Thunder’s first player to commit to a NCAA Div 1 school since Thunder Alumni Brett Bamber who committed to the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves for the 2022/23 season. The entire Thunder organization would like to congratulate Tafari and his family on his commitment.