STRATFORD, P.E.I. — Hockey has taken Sarah Steele from coast-to-coast across the country and south of the border to play against the top university players in the United States.
She’s now being paid to play the game she loves in Europe.
“I’m just really thankful. Every day I get to do something I am good at and I love to do,” the 24-year-old Stratford native said Thursday. “It’s just a huge privilege.”
Steele grew up playing the game with boys in the Pownal Minor Hockey Association until peewee. She had photos of her role models, Hayley Wickenheiser and Cassie Campbell, on her walls but couldn't have expected what her future would hold.
“I didn’t really see myself playing professional hockey,” the defenceman said. “When I was younger, I don't think it was really ever a goal for many females or even was something that seemed realistic to do.”
But hard work and a willingness to try new things opened doors.
When those doors opened, she shined.
She attended a showcase event, put on by Andrews Hockey Growth Programs, when she was 15 and later decided to attend Appleby College, a prep school in Oakville, Ont. During her three years there, she was part of Team Canada’s under-18 national team that won the world championship in Finland, attended the Canada Games in Halifax with Team P.E.I. and competed at a national event in British Columbia with Team Atlantic.
Those opportunities provided scouts a chance to see her play against top-level competition.
She received a full athletic scholarship to Boston University and played four seasons of Division 1 hockey for the Terriers from 2013-17, earning degrees in English and psychology.
“I knew that I wanted to keep playing hockey and I always had this desire to travel,” Steele said.
There wasn’t much information available to her about the leagues overseas and there weren’t many North Americans competing in them to gain information from.
“I kind of had to do a lot of research on my own,” she said.
She played in Vienna, Austria, for the EHV Sabres of the European Women’s Hockey League (EWHL) in 2017-18. Last year, she played for the Neuchâtel Hockey Academy Dames in the Swiss league and this year, she is with KMH Budapest in Hungary, playing in the EWHL.
The situations have all been a bit different.
She broke even the first year while her contract in Year 2 included working about 25 hours a week outside of training and playing hockey.
This year, it’s a full-time job where she spends about six hours a day at the rink, split between the ice and the gym.
The team recently won the Hungarian league hockey championship and this weekend she is participating in the EWHL final four championship
KMH Budapest is ranked second and plays the Aisulu Almaty from Kazakhstan today at 1:40 p.m. Atlantic. It can be viewed online at https://www.youtube.com/user/Miszterm1/ . The final takes place on Sunday.
Robyn MacDonald remembers Steele coming through Hockey P.E.I.’s under-13 and under-15 high-performance program and coached her at the Canada Games.
“She’s always been a go-getter and striving for excellence,” MacDonald said Friday. “It’s really exciting to hear of someone who has made it so far and is still playing and competing at such a high level.”
Steele blended speed and intelligence while patrolling the blue-line for P.E.I. at the Canada Games.
“She’s a competitor and that was her element,” MacDonald said. “She loved everything about Canada Games and she came to play.”
Steele hasn’t determined what the future holds after this season.
“I’m kind of at the point where I am trying to think about exploring new job options or maybe further education,” she said.
“It’s really hard to decide not to play hockey anymore. … It’s been what I’ve been doing my whole life.”
But she is grateful for everything the sport has provided her.
“It’s pretty incredible,” she said. “I would have never thought that I’d be able to visit all the places I’ve been, meet all the different people and experience different cultures first-hand.”
MacDonald sees great things in Steele’s future whether it is on or off the ice.
“Whatever Sarah puts her mind to she’s going to succeed and she’s going to make some powerful contributions because that’s just who she is as a person.”
