Miley Ashby '23 Recruiting Profile

I started playing hockey when I was eight years old and since then have dreamed of one day playing collegiate hockey. Since the beginning, I knew I was behind because I started later than most. However, that didn’t stop me from working hard. It’s actually what drove me to prove that I am good enough every time I step on the ice. W’here I live there was only boys hockey when I started, and it was my only option at the time so most of my career I played on a boys team. Playing with the boys motivated me to work twice as hard; I couldn’t just be as good or work as hard as them, I had to be better and work harder. When I entered the high school age for hockey I switched to a girls hockey team, the only reason for the switch being that the high school boys team in town did not allow girls. The first two years I played two hours away on the CIGHA Revolution in Bloomington, IL. This was the closest girls team and therefore, I had to make many sacrifices. I spent anywhere from four to sixteen hours on the road a week while still maintaining a minimum of a 3.7 GPA. This past season I started playing back in the Quad Cities again. We finally were able to launch the new High School Girls program, in which I've been advocating for and helping build during my entire career playing. While playing for the 16U Girls Ice Eagles in the Quad Cities this past season, I was named Captain and took on many other team responsibilities. I not only led the team on the ice in games, but I also led practices and worked one on one with my other teammates. I also led off-ice work and warm-ups before games and practices. However, drills and workouts aren’t the only thing that makes a team, so I made sure that I stayed connected to all the players, keeping them up to date on the schedule and pre-game pep/ strategy talks as well as just conversing and making that personal connection in the locker room. Also, when issues presented themselves between teammates it was my job to either handle the situation or get all the information possible for the coaches to handle it. While leading this team this season I was able to maintain at least a 3.9 GPA and end up finishing out my junior year with a 4.0. When given a task, an assignment or drill, I will always put 110% of myself into it and continue to work to reach the next goal. I may not have played for the top teams, or have the same resume as the other girls you’re looking at, but I will stop at nothing to be the best teammate and player you will ever see.