Ashleigh Buholzer '21 Recruiting Profile

I have lived in a small town on the coast of British Columbia for much of my life. Growing up in a small town leaves room for limitations, especially with sports and my hockey career. There are not very many opportunities to play high level hockey. Powell River's Female Program consists of two teams; a Novice/Atom team and a Peewee/Bantam/Midget team, both of which are considered house teams and have a small number of players. Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to play alongside the boys my whole life which led to tougher competition.  

I started hockey when I was four years old. Since then, I have had many opportunities to display my skills, even with the odds against me. In my second year of Peewee (2016/17), I attended my first ever rep tryout. It was scary and I was intimidated being one of three girls trying out for the team. Unfortunately, I did not make the team. This made me doubt myself and I pulled back from hockey. I was not pushing myself as hard as I could have.  

In my second year of Bantam (2018/19) I tried out again for rep as the only girl, only this time I made the team as an affiliate player, while also playing for our local Midget house team. Through this year I learned many skills regarding hockey as well as my personal and school life. Being in my 10th year of school brought on a lot of stress from school and a lot of homework. Time management was something I needed to work on going into this year and is something I have significantly improved on. With that, I also learned what it means to be part of higher-level hockey. I learned self-discipline, sportsmanship, how to be a team player, perseverance, and determination. This was the year I decided hockey was something I wanted in my future and I began working hard for it.  

The next season (2019/20), a hockey academy started in Powell River. I wanted to further my skills as a player and so I tried out for the Midget Academy team, also known as the Midget rep team. I was again the only girl and again an affiliate player. I was not going to let either of those stop me from working my hardest. The academy consisted of four 1.5 hours of ice time and four 1.5-2.5 hours of off-ice training per week with weekend games and two hours of classroom time on Wednesday’s to recap over weekend games and further our learning of the game. Monday's and Friday's, we had our skills coach on-ice with us going over specific mechanics of skating and shooting. As well on Monday's we had morning yoga, and Friday's we had our fitness trainer give us a run for our money with different workouts. Tuesday's and Thursday’s  our off ice consisted of gym training, normally weight training or a fun game of another sport to keep us entertained. Through the season I played a total of five games with three pre-season games and two regular-season games. With not a lot of play time it was hard to develop my in-game skills. However, I became significantly better all around, but especially in my shooting and skating. Having the opportunity to be a part of the academy helped me with my skills and my attitude toward the game.  

At the beginning of my 19/20 season, my coach Chad Van Diemen sat down with me to go over my plans for the future. I told him collegiate hockey is a goal of mine and that I will work as hard as I need to in order to achieve my goal. I was not sure if I was good enough to play at the collegiate level, but Chad assured me if I put in the effort, I can do it.  

2020 has been a struggle for me. Due to COVID-19, I do not have the opportunity to play hockey this season. However, I am continuing to grow and work on my fitness through other sports such as Volleyball, and Track and Field, as well as work on stickhandling and shooting whenever possible. I also go for runs and do weight training whenever I get the chance between school and homework.  

Since I am a 2004-born and graduating in 2021, a year ahead, I plan to take another year and tryout for FMAAA U18 Seals from Vancouver Island, BC in order to further my skills before varsity. This will be my last year of minor hockey. I am optimistic in my post-secondary hockey career and I hope to play at an elevated level whilst pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. Throughout my high school life, I have had some rough patches academically, but through that I have realized how important it is to balance a busy athletic schedule on top of school work. With that being said, I am confident in my ability to succeed at university as a student-athlete.  

Thank you for taking your time to read this and consider me, 

Ashleigh