MOVE CROSS-COUNTRY TO PURSUE DIVISION I DREAM? YOU BETCHA.
Ontario native Alex Young realized during her senior year of high school that in order to continuing pursuing her dream of playing Division I college hockey, she would have to move away from home and compete in a post-graduate season of competition to make that dream a reality.
That was easier said than done though as the resident of Thunder Bay found a spot at a brand new U19 program in Connecticut. That meant the teenage goaltender would have to move from her home city in Canada to a U.S. state that’s about a 20 hour drive away by car.
“Obviously, Thunder Bay is kind of like, not centrally located, one might put it, so I didn’t have a ton of interest or exposure after my senior year,” said the 18-year-old. “I decided that I wanted to go Division I instead of Division III and I was going to have to take a PG (post-grad) year to do that.”
Through the sacrifice of moving all the way to the east coast and by tons of hard work both on and off the ice, Young wound up achieving her goal in early February by earning an offer to play at Post University.
(Contributed Photo)
“I don’t know if there is a typical recruitment experience, but whatever I did was not typical,” joked the young netminder about trying to earn a place in Division I. “I showed up here (in Connecticut), I sent an email to probably every single Division I school, didn’t get a ton of interest, but I ended up working with the goalie coach at Post and I met him and we went from there.”
Young eventually took a visit to the campus, which also just so happens to be in Connecticut, and fell in love with it and ultimately decided quite quickly that she wanted to be a part of the up-and-coming Eagles program.
“I just remember calling my parents and saying like ‘mom and dad - I just got an offer and I’m taking it’ and they were like ‘are you sure you don’t want to think about it a little more?’ and I was like ‘nope, this is it’.”
Post is one of the newer programs in women’s Division I college hockey and it’s located in Waterbury, Connecticut, which is essentially in between Hartford and New Haven. Young said that she loved being on campus and that the smaller school feel reminded her of her home in Thunder Bay. The Eagles currently compete in the NEWHA (New England Women’s Hockey Alliance) conference and are under first-year head coach Pat Bingham in 2024-25.
The 18-year-old goalie grew up in Thunder Bay and comes from a hockey family where both her dad and grandfather also played the sport. She ended up putting on the goalie pads one day as a young skater and liked it enough to make a commitment to the position.
Young competed with the Thunder Bay Queens program growing up until she made the move to Connecticut over the last year. She originally started watching NCAA hockey and become a fan of the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs and Minnesota Golden Gophers when she was younger, which isn’t surprising considering that she has a set of grandparents that live in Duluth. This became a big reason as to why she wanted to end up competing in Division I.
(Contributed Photo)
Fast forward a couple of years and now the Ontario native is competing in Connecticut - but how did she end up there? Well, she knew Coach Mike Stanaway, who is working with the CT Jr. Rangers program, and he convinced her to come out east. The U19 girls squad that she joined for 2024-25 is brand new to the Jr. Rangers organization, and it makes Young the very first Division I commit for the team in its inaugural season of competition.
It’s been a new experience for Young over the past year, being roommates with her teammates over the past season as they live in apartments together. Being an only child and being so far away from home, there was a lot to get used to with living among a handful of other girls her own age, but the 18-year-old has had a lot of fun living with her teammates. Wordle and Sodoku have been popular games among the skaters in their homes and on bus rides.
Competing for a brand new Jr. Rangers team makes it no big deal to join a Post University squad next fall that is still relatively new to Division I hockey. Young clearly isn’t afraid of joining a new program and helping make an impact wherever she is.
In late-February of 2025, Young has only a few weeks left of her season with the Jr. Rangers. She says that the team started off a bit rocky with everyone just starting to get to know each other at the beginning of the year but they seem to be piecing things together at just the right time at the current moment.
“Now that I’m committed, I just want to have fun and play free,” she said. “The recruiting process is so stressful for everyone and now that it’s over I can kind of just enjoy hockey and try to get better and see how much better I can get before I get there (to Post).”
The Ontario native will finish up this season in Connecticut before she joins the Eagles squad this upcoming fall. She is a self-described goalie that can use her technique and athleticism to her advantage. She also loves to play the puck and has worked a lot of her puck-handling skills over the past few years. She plans on studying sports management to start her collegiate career.
The Jr. Rangers Instagram page says that “Alex has set the standard with her dedication, work ethic, and commitment to excellence,” in a post they made about her commitment. Young and the Eagles will look to make an immediate impact in the NEWHA and in women’s Division I hockey in 2025-26.
If you enjoy the content on Clean Sheet Hockey, please consider making a donation to help me tell the most unique stories in the sport. As an independent journalist, I rely off of my readers to help keep the site up and running. As always - no annoying pop-up ads or paywalls!
