By Trevor Greenway

Heritage College is looking for the next female hockey star.

Or, rather, 23 female hockey stars who can don the Hurricanes jersey next season and make history as the school’s first-ever women’s collegiate hockey team.

“We’re very excited,” said Julie Knerr, coordinator of student services at Heritage College a few days after the school’s bid to ice a women’s hockey team in 2024 was accepted by the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), the province’s college sport governing body. “It’s a big push for not only the school but for the community and hockey in the area,” added Knerr.

Most of the region’s elite female hockey players – from Gatineau to Maniwaki – don’t have any options locally to play collegiate hockey, unless they make the hop to Ottawa or move to Montreal to play at John Abbott or Dawson College. But a new team at Heritage means that prospective players won’t have to move to play at that level. Knerr said the school will be recruiting from multiple leagues over the next several months — from the AAA leagues in Gatineau to elite hockey programs in Ottawa and beyond.

“There’s a lot of talent up here, and all those girls who would have had to go to Montreal in order to play collegiate hockey, they can now play in their backyard,” added Knerr. “We’re going to look across the river as well for Ontario players that might want to look at continuing their education and playing hockey at the same time.” She added that the school is inclusive to players outside the region as well.

The school’s new women’s hockey team is part of a major boost in athletics at Heritage College. The school is just putting the finishing touches on a new, $2.2 million state-of-the-art sports field that boasts soccer and football fields, multi-sport courts and outdoor training facilities.

The new women’s hockey team will get the “full hockey experience,” said Knerr, adding that the team will have its own dressing room and practice facility at Arena Cholette, just minutes from campus.

Knerr and Heritage College director of students services Julie Goulet said that the timing for a new women’s team is perfect, given that the new Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is launching its inaugural season in 2024.

“Now that we have the PWHL coming into town, and with the positivity within women’s hockey and the growth, the timing couldn’t be any better,” added Knerr. “We saw an opportunity to make a bid with the RSEQ, and we are super happy to have the program.”

The Heritage Hurricanes women’s hockey team will play in Division 2 of the RSEQ collegiate league along with five other teams, including fellow expansion team the Lynx from Cégep Édouard Montpetit. The Hurricanes team will play its first game in the 2024/25 school year.