There’s a cultural and professional evolution coming to the Australian ice hockey landscape – and at the forefront is Gembrook’s Emma Steele.
The 24-year-old was selected by Snipers in the first ever Pro League competition draft, held on 19 May, to be played at iceHQ in Reservoir in Melbourne’s north.
Significantly, this league is the first ice hockey in Australia where female players will not have to pay to participate.
Steele, who has played in the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League (AWIHL), the pinnacle of the sport in Australia, has needed to invest financially in order to fuel her dreams throughout her journey, beyond purchasing equipment.
On top of playing, that element of the competition has Steele keen to take the rink.
“For a league to finally come out where the financial burden is not placed (on players), it’s quite exciting,” she said.
“Even being at the top level in the sport, you unfortunately still have to pay.
“With this league now coming out, it’s kind of a separate thing, but everything’s paid for.
“They’ve gotten all the best female hockey players, a majority of them from Victoria but there are some from around the country, to go into three teams and play in a league together.”
The competition consists of three teams and will run over nine weeks beginning Friday 2 June, culminating in a best-of-three game grand final series in August.
Steele’s commitment to the sport cannot be questioned.
As a teenager she made the near-hour journey from Gembrook to the Olympic Ice Skating Centre in Oakleigh multiple times a week after school, in her quest for something more high-octane and frenetic than field hockey.
“I always had a weird fascination with ice hockey through the old ‘Mighty Ducks’ movies and all that,” she said.
“I always really enjoyed that growing up but unfortunately there aren’t that many ice hockey rinks around and I live out in Gembrook and it is quite a hike to get there.
“It wasn’t until I was 16 that I was able to start playing, and then from there it was a lot of hard work and a lot of late nights, a lot of determination and eventually I started playing with a team and worked my way up from there to the Under 18 internationals and Under 21s.
“It turned into more of a lifestyle than a hobby.”
Her love for the game and the underappreciated tactical nous that comes with it has seen her travel the country and the world.
Australia’s relationship with the sport does exist, but the flame needs some fanning.
The green and gold have only taken the ice once in Winter Olympic history, in the Squaw Valley games of 1960.
The 19-man squad led by captain Ben Acton and coach William McEachern, finished ninth, having conceded 87 goals in six games.
On the women’s side, Australia is yet to have a team take the ice in Olympic competition.
But there’s a first time for everything, and in this competition there’s hope the next generation, or even the current one in the case of Steele, can be trailblazers.
“There is a lot of talent in Australia when it comes to ice hockey,” Steele said.
“I’m hoping (this league) is going to bring more people into the sport, because although ice hockey has been around in Australia for a while, the sport isn’t that big.
“It grows every year but hopefully we’ll get a lot more interest in it and hopefully people get a lot more invested in it as well.
“Obviously when you go to the Olympics you’ve got to be in the highest division, and Australia is working towards that.
“But I definitely think that if more people come into the sport, there’s going to be more skill and funding and it’s going to take that pressure off having to pay those large sums just to play.
“I’m hoping that this is going to bring a lot more awareness to the sport, especially considering it will all be livestreamed and all that, and quite a lot of effort is going into it, from publicity and everything like that.”
The Snipers’ season begins on Friday 2 June against Inferno.
