聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Redvers-raised Sydney Hill has parlayed her hockey prowess all the way to the Ivy League.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Now playing defence for the Dartmouth College Big Green, in Hanover, New Hampshire, Hill credits her hard-won confidence and innate stubborness with getting her there.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭his biggest challenge? Well, honestly, it's feeling like I belong here- everybody's so smart,鈥� says Hill. 鈥淏ut the best advice I got came from one of my favourite profs, who told me: 'There's no need to worry about being here. You're already here.'鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淪o it was up to me to make the most of this opportunity.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Hill's hockey career began in Redvers, when as a nine-year-old, she started to play simply because 鈥渁ll of my friends did it.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淢y dad played goal, so for a couple of games, they put me in goal,鈥� she smiles. 鈥淚 was not good- I was terrible. After only a few games- when I let in so many goals that some of the boys on the team were bugging me about how we were losing because of me- I got pulled.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚t really hurt my confidence, but stubborn me thought: 'I'm not taking this. I'm good at skating backward- better than I am skating forward'- so I thought: 'I want to play defence.'鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 After her years as a Redvers Rocket- where as a member of the Rockets' Bantam girls team, Hill's hockey career began to take off.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚n grade nine, I played Triple A in Weyburn. That was after not making the Moose Mountain Wild (team). After that, I just went home and worked harder and I made Weyburn as an underage player.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 was 13 and that's really rare. I had to make a decision, so I played for the Weyburn Gold Wings Triple A team. I was so young, I was at a different school away from Redvers, but I did grade nine in Weyburn and after that, my parents and I started looking at universities.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淲e eventually went to a showcase in Warner, Alberta with no intention of me going to the (Warner Hockey) school there. I was 14 then and my dad thought maybe I could go later in grade 11 or 12, but Mikko (Makela, former NHL player and school director) met with us and I was a 14-year-old going to a U19 team.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 was very on the fence, but I ended up getting a lot of ice time that year and I played a large role on that team from a young age.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淢ikko taught me a lot and I gained a lot of confidence. He's one of the best coaches I've ever had and he definitely believes in his players.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 During her high school hockey career- she graduated from the Virden Collegiate Institute- Hill was a five-time letterwinner in hockey and softball, represented the province as part of Team Saskatchewan's hockey squad at the Canada Winter Games and the U18 Hockey Nationals and was named to the JWHL (Junior Women's Hockey League) All-Star team, while earning an Academic Gold Diploma.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Hill says, 鈥淢y goal was to play hockey at the CIS or NCAA level and kind of use hockey to get a great education. Now that I'm here-playing in the NCAA at Dartmouth- my biggest hurdle is self-confidence in a way and finding a way to make yourself happy, even though you have hockey, essays and all of that stuff, you have to separate yourself from the fact that those are jobs, but you have to prioritize things so you live your life, too.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭here are a lot of bright people here, all with unique perspectives,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚'm also very aware that for a lot of kids, this is their dream school and they work really hard to get in.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Hill committed to the Dartmouth Big Green in October 2015. 鈥淭here was an early decision deadline, so I applied that way, under kind of a tight deadline. In three days, I put the package together- I wrote two essays, filled out the forms, gathered recommendations, everything.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淏ut it's super-intense and I was relieved when I heard from them in December, accepting me contingent on my marks. When I got there, some people told me they wrote 12 different essays, so I'm really glad it worked out for me.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淪chool's great, but there are a lot of misconceptions about the whole Ivy League thing,鈥� says Warner. 鈥淓verybody's really readying you for the real world thing. As I said before, the school encourages you with that balancing act. For people in sports, you do make a social life, but your friends are probably studying on Friday night, instead of going out, so you socialize a different way.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淲e have games every weekend, so if we're not playing at home (in Dartmouth's Thompson Arena), we use those bus trips to do homework and study.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淲e play all of the Ivy Leagues except Columbia,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd a few more.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淥ur team has incredible fan support- especially from our men's teams. So the games can get pretty loud and there's even a tradition involving tennis balls being thrown on ice. When we play away, it gets pretty noisy, too.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淏oston crowds are really fun, Cornell has a really cool marching band, Clarkson (University) have fans who heckle you all the time and Princeton is one our rivals. But we all get fired up to play Harvard. Everybody on every team wants to beat Harvard.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淥ur team of 24 people is made up of people from Canada and the U.S., mainly. There are 14 Canadians and 10 Americans, so there are more Canadians on the team,鈥� smiles Hill. 鈥淢ost of the Americans are from places like Connecticut, Boston, the New England area. Some of the Canadians are from Toronto, Winnipeg and there's a girl from Melville, too.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淲hen I committed to Dartmouth, the head coach that I committed to retired,鈥� says Hill. 鈥淢y new head coach- Laura Schuler- is the new head coach of聽 Team Canada now. But even though the coaching staff I'd committed to had changed, it worked out.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚t's interesting, because she has us doing a lot of different stuff,鈥� adds Hill. 鈥淪he has me playing forward sometimes. It was scary at first, I've never really played forward before. We even have a little freshman line.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淓verybody's an alpha female,鈥� says Hill. 鈥淚t is what it is. I've been on teams like this since I've been young. Everybody has the same goal- to win. There's lots of sacrifice, but lots of gains, too.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚've learned that it's not the drills or the equipment or stuff like that when you're working toward your goal. It's the time and effort and focus and work you put into it.鈥�
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