Girls' Ice Hockey
During the 2000-01 season – just the third year of coeducation at The Hill - a group of girls who were interested in playing ice hockey joined the JV “B” boys’ team before forming a dedicated girls team at the end of the season. The next winter, the first varsity girls hockey team took to the ice, and the program shortly thereafter became established in the Mid-Atlantic and New England. Since those early years, the program has gradually elevated its stature and has reached the top tier of prep hockey in North America.
Hill Girls Hockey has experienced a meteoric rise over the last decade, earning a highly-competitive place in prep school hockey. The program is unique in a number of ways, relative to the prep hockey landscape – a blend between the traditional New England model and some of the most competitive club teams. Our student-athletes develop on the ice, but also as athletes off the ice with a full-time strength and conditioning program, and most importantly as students and people. Our student-athletes hail from 17 U.S. states and three countries, many coming from less traditional hockey markets as they seek stronger competition and development, but also more balance in their lives.
The team plays an arduous schedule including opponents from the New England Prep Athletic Council (NEPSAC) and independent prep teams from across the continent. The schedule is highly competitive and includes independent prep rivals Lawrenceville, Shady Side Academy, Gilmour Academy, and Northwood and top New England programs such as Noble and Greenough, Tabor, Westminster, Kent, St. Paul’s, Choate, Taft, Phillips Exeter, Deerfield, Millbrook, Brooks, Thayer, Berkshire, Frederick Gunn, Canterbury, Worcester Academy, and Winchendon. The team plays an increasingly difficult schedule each year including several top exposure events attended by college coaches. This includes the Holiday Tournaments at Phillips Exeter and Dexter-Southfield as well as several other showcases and a tournament that Hill hosts. Hill has recently won the Exeter Tournament, twice the St. George’s Howard Invitational, and its own tournament.
This program is very well supported, with four full-time faculty members on the coaching staff (including a goaltending coach), three of whom competed at the highest levels of collegiate hockey. The coaching staff believes that structure, attention to detail, and hard work are the building blocks of success, but most importantly a mentality of playing for The Hill. This is one of the great aspects of the prep hockey tradition that is felt strongly by our student-athletes.
In many regards, Hill Hockey is built like a collegiate program. In addition to the deep and experienced coaching staff, the team expends a great deal of time in various ways to support the development of its student-athletes. Comprehensive off-ice conditioning is available throughout the year (in and out of season), led by Hill's full-time strength and conditioning staff. During the season, the team typically is on the ice six days a week, and utilizes off-ice time for video instruction and team-building activities. And most importantly, our student-athletes are expected to engage and perform every day in the classroom and across the community.
As important as our tangible success is, our program takes the most pride in the overall experience our student-athletes have both within and outside the hockey program. Our alumnae have performed very well at the collegiate level, both academically and athletically, recent graduates studying and competing at top Division I and Division III colleges/universities, including Boston College, Cornell University, Pennsylvania State University, Sacred Heart University, Adrian College, Amherst College, Bowdoin College, Chatham University, Connecticut College, Elmira College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Middlebury College, Utica College, Wesleyan University. The coaching staff is intricately involved in supporting student-athletes with their respective college recruiting processes.
Our program is proudly housed in the Hall/Eccleston Arena, which is a part of The Hill’s modern and historic Athletics Complex in the heart of campus. The ice goes down in late-September, and is available to our student-athletes until the conclusion of the season. The rink holds 500 spectators and contains state-of-the-art facilities. And most importantly, our program is supported by great people who love hockey and love this community.
For more information on the girls’ hockey program please email Head Coach Ari Baum or fill out the online inquiry form below.