Black women are represented in NCAA Hockey more than they ever have in the league’s history. Representation in the sport is increasing thanks to a record-number of Black female hockey players. There are at least 13 Black players in Division I and III this season, as opposed to four in 2019 and nine in 2015, according to the NCAA and as reported by the NHL. Recruiters are noticing the change first hand.
“As I’m recruiting, I feel I’m constantly shocked that it’s getting less and less out of the ordinary to see girls that are getting recruited to NCAA [Division I] who are (Black),” Kelsey Koelzer, who is the first Black woman to be a No. 1 pick in the National Women’s Hockey League draft, said. “I think it’s a really hopeful sign.”
Avery Mitchell, a defenseman at Clarkson University, said Black women and girls are often the only ones on their teams because hockey is a sport that is often not encouraged and presented to them as an option.
“I definitely think it’s just the matter of it not being encouraged enough and it’s a sort of stereotype that hockey is more a sport for white people, which is not true,” she told the NHL. “I think it’s a matter of not being encouraged and not seeing representation.”
Other players also emphasize the importance of representation in the sport.
“The numbers are fun to see because younger girls out there, they’re trying to find their role models but sometimes people have a hard time seeing themselves in others,” Tamara Thierus, a forward at the University of New Hampshire, said. “I know as a young girl I would have loved to see someone like me play at a high level. I’m happy someone can look at me and say, ‘I want to be like this when I’m older.’”
That representation is slowly increasing. Sarah Nurse made headlines when she won a silver medal for Canada’s women hockey team at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. She was also a star player at the University of Wisconsin, where she scored 137 points across 150 games, according to the NHL. Her success encouraged others to join the roster at Wisconsin.
“That (low Black student population) kind of made me hesitant, but then I saw, OK, Sarah Nurse is there, she’s playing, she’s amazing, playing really well,” Chayla Edwards, a defenseman for the University of Wisconsin, said. “I can go to that campus, be OK, still play hockey and do what I came to do. I can still address the race issue, as she did. I don’t have to be scared to speak out.”
Representation also increased outside of the league, notably through the creation of a Barbie doll modeled after Nurse in 2020.
“You can really change a young girl’s life with that if she thought about not playing hockey because of the stereotypes she hears,” Mitchell said. “She can look at the doll, talk about Sarah Nurse and get the extra push to keep going.”
