Let’s face the truth, – there’s no money in girls’ hockey.  No one is going to be signing million dollar, multi-year contracts to play professional women’s hockey any time soon.  A few women are able to make a living by playing hockey,  but I would say that number is under 50 world-wide.

I would love to be able to tell you that this will be a realistic goal for aspiring young girls’ sooner than later, but the reality is that
women’s hockey is neither marketable enough or competitive enough at its highest levels to make this dream a reality anytime
in the near future.

AND to be honest with you,  I don’t think that is a bad thing at all. 

Sure, we’d love to have equality to the men’s game and be able to play all over North America and support ourselves and our family playing the game we love, but we need to be realistic.  But for the majority of girls’ hockey players, their competitive playing days are done after high school.  A smaller subset of the population will continue to play in college and university.  And an even smaller number will have the opportunity to tryout for and represent their country on the international stage.

So all that being said, what’s a realistic goal for an aspiring girls’ hockey player who is willing to put in the time and effort needed to get to the next level?

:::::  To leverage their athletic ability to get a better academic opportunity.  :::::

The truth of the matter is, we are going to make our living for what we do away from the rink and not from what we do on it.  It is your education that is going to get you where you want to be in life, not your ability to shoot a slap-shot.

That being said though, I know of many players who were able to use their athletic ability, in combination with their academic prowess, to get the chance to study at some of the best universities in the world – myself included.  Although I was a very strong student in high school, I would not have been able to get into an Ivy League school based solely on my academic ability.  However, because of my hockey ability, I was recruited by most of the Ivy League schools and was able to make the choice to study at one of the best academic institutions in the world, while also playing the sport I loved.

The best we can do as female hockey players is to leverage our athletic ability to get a better academic opportunity.  And I think this is much more realistic than the legions of male hockey players who are chasing the NHL dream and sometimes sacrificing their academics in order to do so.

So the best advice I can give you is to: Work as hard in the classroom as you do on the ice – if not harder. 

So as you go through spring tryouts, summer hockey, regional team tryouts and showcase tournaments, and things seem to get that much more cut-throat and intense, remember that no one is getting drafted here.    You will graduate high school and hopefully go on to college or university.  If you work very hard, you’ll get the opportunity to study and play hockey at the same time.  And when your hockey is done, it’s your education that counts the most.

To learn all the details you need to navigate the college hockey scholarship process, check out the Total Female Hockey Scholarship Project at:  https://totalfemalehockey.com/scholarship-project/

Keep Working Hard and Dreaming BIG – on the ice and in the classroom.

Your friend and coach,

Kim

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS
Director, Total Female Hockey
Girls’ Hockey Director, PEAC School For Elite Athletes