Here’s a first-person perspective of a Canadian woman’s first impressions after moving to a new country to attend her freshman year at Providence College.
Neve Van Pelt played for the NCAA Providence Friars women’s hockey team from 2016-17 to 2019-20 and for the NWHL's (now known as the PHF’s) Buffalo Beauts in 2020-21. She’s currently a student at the College of Sports Media in Toronto and an intern at The Hockey News. She’s writing a blog series about her hockey journey. Check out Neve's author profile for parts 1 and 2.
Nothing can truly prepare you for the moment you walk onto your college campus for the first time as an NCAA freshman.
Travelling 662 miles from my small town of Mitchell, Ont., to a whole new country to attend Providence College as a 19-year-old was exhilarating. As athletes, we were given the unique opportunity to attend summer school at the college. This allowed us to complete a couple of courses and train with the team on campus before the school year started.
Don’t get me wrong; it was still terrifying driving through the gate that first day. I remember looking at my parents and saying, “How are we already here? I’m not ready, but I am, but I’m not…” After freaking out for a couple more minutes, it was time to get out of the car and head up to my dorm room.
The second I saw my roommate and some of the other freshmen we were living with for the summer, I immediately knew that my decision to come to Friartown was the right one. Being a part of the women’s hockey team was very special because not only did I get to play the sport I loved while attending college, but I also had 23 new sisters before the year even started.
The memories from that first summer are some of my fondest. From simply getting to know everyone, to playing spike ball almost every night, to hitting up the beautiful Rhode Island beaches on the weekends, to finding the best restaurants and ice cream spots around the city, to the late-night dance parties, Providence College quickly became my home away from home.
About half of our team was there during summer training, and it was obvious from Day 1 that this wasn’t junior hockey anymore.
Stepping onto the ice for the first time with the other freshmen and some sophomores and juniors was extremely intimidating. Coming off my senior year of high school, where I played for the best team in the league and was among the top 10 scorers, it was very eye-opening seeing the level of skill, speed and strength of my new teammates.
Following that practice, it was time for our first weight training session of the summer. We didn’t get our team apparel until the fall when school started, so on my first day, I walked into the gym wearing a tank top. Our strength and conditioning coach didn’t waste any time before chirping me and asking if the “sleeve monster” got me. As you can imagine, that was the first and last time I wore a tank top.
Overall, that summer of training, getting two classes under my belt and having the opportunity to bond with a bunch of my teammates played a huge role in preparing me for the fall.
My mom and aunt drove me back down to Providence at the end of August for freshman orientation. Making multiple stops at Target, we stocked up on the necessities I’d need for college and some decor for my freshman dorm room. After unpacking everything and turning what was a plain and empty room into a place that felt like home, they gave me big hugs goodbye, and as I watched the car drive away, I couldn’t believe that the beginning of my next four years was officially here.
Surviving all of the icebreakers during orientation, the first day of school and hockey was finally here.
Thankfully, two of my teammates were in the same lecture as me, so it made the walk to class from the dining hall a lot less nerve-racking. School was the easy part of the day, though, as all I could think about was that first practice with the entire team.
Joking around with my teammates in the dressing room before it started allowed me to forget for a second that I was about to step on the ice for my first-ever NCAA college practice. On the outside, I was smiling and as excited as one could be, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t freaking out a little on the inside. Knowing the coaches and team would be seeing us freshmen out there for the first time with the entire roster was a lot of pressure.
I still remember coach Bob Deraney drawing up one of the drills on the whiteboard, and I had to look at some of the other freshmen to make sure they were just as confused as I was. Needless to say, we quickly became acquainted with the back of the line.
As the week went on, we caught on quickly and, with each practice, became more and more comfortable. When it was finally time for system work a few weeks later, we were put into different line combinations to test out chemistry. This is when my worst fear came true, and no, it wasn’t the line I was on. It was the fact that my coach didn’t want to put a freshman at center.
This doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but for someone who had never played a shift on the wing in their lifetime and has always been known for being a strong 200-foot center, I was very much out of my comfort zone.
I was happy to play wherever the coaches wanted me, but when asked how I felt on the wing, I was completely honest. Taking a chance on me, I was lucky enough to get some reps at center in the next few practices before finding out I’d be playing there in our first exhibition game. I was ecstatic but also nervous because this meant I needed to prove myself.
Falling asleep the night before the game was far from easy. I couldn’t wait to wake up the next morning for my first Friars game day. The upperclassman pranked us, saying we had to wear dresses to the rink – but the joke was on them because we looked great.
With butterflies in my stomach, we started lining up in order of our jersey numbers to hit the ice. The feeling I had standing out there on the blueline while the national anthems played was surreal. After getting through my first shift and getting all of the jitters out, I was able to leave the rink that day satisfied with the way I played.
The next day at our pre-game meal, our stats guy asked if I’d lost a faceoff in the game, and honestly, I don’t think I did. My performance at center was enough to prove to my coach that I belonged there, and from that day on, every shift I played in the Friars jersey was at center.
Getting through that first exhibition game was one thing, but heading to Walter Brown Arena to take on Boston University for our first Hockey East matchup was a whole new level of intimidation. Our teammates were very supportive and did a great job preparing us freshmen. From stories of their first games to telling us about playing BU when the legendary Marie-Philip Poulin was on the team, to simply just making us laugh, I’m very thankful for each and every one of them.
I knew it was going to be a step up from junior hockey, but…wow. From the first shift to the final buzzer, I could not believe how much faster, stronger and better the game was at this level. It was very clear at that moment how competitive the next four years were going to be.