Avery Pickering was the youngest player in the NCAA this season, arriving a year before her peers. That didn't stop her from taking a prominent role with Colgate and Canada, and helping her school reach the NCAA's Frozen Four.
Avery Pickering was the youngest player in the NCAA this season, arriving a year before her peers. That didn't stop her from taking a prominent role with Colgate and Canada, and helping her school reach the NCAA's Frozen Four.
When Canada named their U-18 World Championship roster this year, there was a rare sight on the roster, a player already competing at the NCAA level, Colgate University's Avery Pickering.
For most, the U-18 tournament is the last stop before the NCAA, not a brief break from their rookie NCAA season as it was for Pickering.
What's been more impressive about the 5-foot-9 defender from St. Adolphe, Manitoba, is the prominent role she's taken with Colgate, one of the top team's in the nation who advanced to the NCAA's Frozen Four.
“Avery has stepped into a pretty prominent role with our team almost immediately," said Colgate head coach Greg Fargo. "She is in our top two defensive pairs and often finds herself playing against the opposition’s top line. It’s pretty incredible when you think about how she stepped into this role at the college level a year early."
In 32 games this season with Colgate, Pickering recorded 10 points and was a +25. While her output is impressive for a first year player, it's even more impressive for a player who arrived at the NCAA a year earlier than her cohort, playing as the youngest player in the nation on a top tem.
"I think a large part of that has to do with the fact that she is so focused on her process and has such a clear vision about who she is as a player," said Fargo. "She also has a really clear pathway to continuous improvement. I think we’ve seen her not only adjust well to the college level but continually find ways to improve as the year has gone on."
Colgate's roster includes several players who will find themselves selected in this year's PWHL Draft including Danielle Serdachny, Ally Simpson, Dara Greig, and Sydney Bard, along with top prospect for the 2025 draft, Krystina Kaltounkova, and former U-18 national team stars like Elyssa Bierderman, Emma Pais, and Sydney Morrow. It's a star studded group for Pickering to be part of. In her own age group, she played alongside a recording breaking group with Canada including Caitlin Kraemer and Chloe Primerano. Primerano herself will enter the NCAA a year early next season with Minnesota.
When the U-18 World Championships rolled around this year, Colgate made the decision to allow Pickering, who had blossomed into one of their top defenders, to return to the U-18 level with Canada. It was an opportunity Fargo felt was important for Pickering.
"Anytime we have a player that gets to wear their country’s colors in a World Championship event it’s great for our program to be recognized in that way and have our players shine in those moments," said Fargo. "But I also think it’s incredibly important for those players because the experience you get playing in a World Championship, playing for a gold medal, it’s the type of experience you just can’t teach."
Now, Fargo hopes to see Pickering utilize those lessons on another major stage at the NCAA Frozen Four.
"When players have the opportunity to play on that stage, as their careers progress those are the games that give them the confidence to perform in the biggest moments," he said. "We’re talking about going to a Frozen Four now and Avery and others will probably be able to reflect on some of these World Championship-type experiences and be able to put them to good use this weekend.”