Canadian born, NCAA graduate -Georgia McLellan is ready for her second season in Australia with the Perth Inferno, with her sights set on joining Australia's national team.
Canadian born, NCAA graduate -Georgia McLellan is ready for her second season in Australia with the Perth Inferno, with her sights set on joining Australia's national team.
Georgia McLellan's hometown is listed as Kamloops, British Columbia, but she has roots in Western Australia. This season, the five-foot-nine defender reconnected those roots, bringing her love for hockey with her, to play in the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League with the Perth Inferno.
McLellan, 22, recently finished a four year career of NCAA Division III hockey playing for Plymouth State University where she served as an assistant captain her last two seasons.
While she grew up in Canada, McLellan considered Australia a second home as her mother is from the nation, and she spent time in Western Australia growing up, developing a love for the region.
"Australia has always been a second home of mine," said McLellan.
"When returning to visit our relatives, my family and I would spend months at a time enjoying all that Western Australia has to offer, and I have held a fondness for its people, animals, and beaches since I can remember."
With that love in mind, McLellan reached out to another former NCAA player she knew who had moved to the AWIHL following her collegiate career, and soon enough, she was a member of the Perth Inferno.
Now that McLellan is playing 'down under,' she has another goal in mind. Georgia McLellan hopes to soon join Australia's national team to compete on the world state.
"Hockey has always been a really meaningful part of my life..." she said. "Because of how impactful it has been, continuing to play is very important to me. Once I realized that Perth has a travel team, I became certain that moving and playing in Australia was the next step for me, given I could make the squad. I also felt that it would be an opportunity to work towards a lifelong goal of mine, playing for Team Australia."
This year with the Perth Inferno, McLellan scored eight points in 10 games in the AWIHL, helping Perth win a bronze medal in the five team league. It was a new experience, but one that McLellan described as "beyond incredible."
"I have made so many wonderful friends here in Perth and from other states, as the season provided the opportunity to travel outside of Western Australia," McLellan said. "I was also extremely grateful to gain some exposure regarding my team Australia goal and am now hoping to be given the opportunity to represent the country at 2024 Worlds."
McLellan's playing schedule allowed her to not only train and compete with the Inferno, it also allowed her to utilize the education she'd gained at Plymouth State, working as a newly minted teacher in Australia.
While Australia remains a developing women's hockey nation, currently sitting 33rd in the IIHF's World rankings, the love for ice hockey in Australia is booming. As McLellan joins Australia's national team, which narrowly missed promotion from the DIIB World Championships this year finishing second behind Belgium, she also sees this love for hockey in the nation growing.
"The love for hockey in Australia would blow anyone’s mind," she said. "Every single member of the Perth hockey community whether it be a player, parent, coach, staff member or supporter, shows their love and support for the sport and it's growth. They have cultivated such a friendly and inviting environment for both beginners and veterans, and have created several leagues of different calibres to support the inclusion and development of players, whether they be adults learning to play or children starting the sport."
With the NHL bringing preseason games to Australia, the love for the sport appears set to continue to boom. For women specifically, McLellan can't speak highly enough about the atmosphere and passion for the sport, as well as how fans and the government equally support women's programming in relation to men's.
"Speaking more specifically to women's hockey in Australia, the culture and community has exceeded my expectations," McLellan said.
"Unlike my experiences in Canada or the US, I find women's hockey to be equally supported here. At our games we have stands full of supporters, fundraisers being planned and supported, and we have professional female athletes of several different sports come and talk to us before our games. It’s been quite an eye-opening experience feeling as though we are being treated with the respect and seriousness that the men's teams get treated with, and gives us hope that more female athletes will get to experience this one day as well."