Brooklyn Schneiderhan was the NEWHA Player of the Year. Next season she'll play pro in Switzerland. Before that she'll represent USA at the ball hockey World Championships. Eventually, she hopes her winding road that went through Alberta and Montana will land in the PWHL.
Brooklyn Schneiderhan is going places. After recently completing her senior season of NCAA hockey at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, Schneiderhan signed to spent next season in Switzerland.
She signed with Neuchâtel Hockey Academy in Switzerland's PostFinance Women's League. The offensive player scored 25 goals and 48 points in 38 games as Saint Anselm's captain this season, en route to being named the NEWHA Player of the Year. Before Schneiderhan heads to Switzerland however, she'll make a hockey stop, of a different kind, in Ostrava, Czechia.
Schneiderhan will represent Team USA's national women's ball hockey team at the ISBHF World Championships in late June. Her spot on USA's national team came by happenstance. Following her Junior season at Saint Anselm, Schneiderhan, who had never played ball hockey before, agreed to play in a tournament with one of her Saint Anselm friends.
At the tournament, fate stumbled upon Schneiderhan.
"I'd never played ball hockey before, so I was just expecting the tournament just to be fun and competitive and stuff like that, but after my first game playing, the national team general manager came up to me, and asked me how long I've been playing ball hockey for."
Schneiderhan's response was like a surprise, but it spawned a new opportunity for the 22-year-old whose family now lives in Helena, Montana.
"I just said that this is actually the first time I've ever played, and he asked me if I wanted to try out for the national team," Schneiderhan said. "I honestly didn't even know that ball hockey had a national team until he told me, so I ended up trying out for the team in September and I got a call in December saying that I made it and that we were going to Ostrava in June."
The interesting part for Schneiderhan, who has always wanted to play hockey on a national team, is that she has never had that chance. Not because her skill isn't there, but because, as she said, she's fallen into a void between Canada, where she was born, and the United States, where she's lived since becoming a teen.
Schneiderhan was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, but moved with her family to Helena, Montana when she was in 8th grade. Despite catching the attention of USA Hockey while playing boys' hockey in Montana, as well as stops in places like Michigan where she played for Belle Tire, Schneiderhan wasn't eligible as she's not an American citizen. And she was never eligible for Hockey Canada's programming, or to represent Alberta, because she no longer resided or was registered to play in Canada.
"I've been stuck in the cracks basically since I moved to Montana," Schneiderhan said. "So being able to throw on a national team jersey is something that I never thought would happen just because of the circumstances, but it's something that I don't even know how to describe. It's definitely an honour to wear the USA jersey and also represent Montana as well in my family's last name."
Pursuing Pro Hockey Dreams Overseas
Signing with Neuchâtel Hockey Academy in Switzerland's PostFinance Women's League, Schneiderhan saw the opportunity to challenge herself against pros, continue her development, and to take another step toward her goal of playing in the PWHL.
It was also the chance to travel the globe while playing the game she loves.
I have always wanted to travel," Schneiderhan said. "It's pretty awesome that I get to experience one of the most beautiful countries in the world and I honestly wasn't going pass that up. I mean Switzerland. Switzerland's teams have smaller rosters and I've built such a great relationship with the coach and the general manager as well and I feel like that is going be the next best step for my hockey career."
Last season the PostFinance Women's League featured 14 members of Switzerland's Olympic bronze medal winning roster including captain Lara Stalder, Swiss Player of the Year Ivana Wey, and former NCAA standout Rahel Enzler. The league also boasted current Boston Fleet blueliner Noemi Neubauerova, New York Sirens forward Kira Juodikis, and Olympians from Czechia, France, Italy, and Finland.
"Obviously, the pro level will be an adjustment with the speed and the physicality, so getting that type of experience, when I do decide that I want to declare for the PWHL draft, that I'm gonna be ready for it," said Schneiderhan.
Schneiderhan believes she can play in the PWHL, where she would become one of, if not the first NEWHA alumni to step into the league.
Nothing is being rushed for Schneiderhan however, as she's looking to take steps in her development. It was one reason why she chose to not only commit to Saint Anselm, turning down offers from larger schools, but to stay there for all four years of her NCAA career.
"I picked Saint Anselm because I felt like this was the best place for me," said Schneiderhan. "It's a small campus. Everybody knows everybody, the program itself speaks volumes, they've been doing very well. The school is amazing, the education is one of the best in New England."
Schneiderhan also chose the school, because it was one of the NCAA programs that wasn't attempting to dissuade her from following the educational path she wanted. Schneiderhan was intent on pursuing nursing, but other schools said it would be too demanding with hockey. Not Saint Anselm.
"The coach that had recruited me here told me that I could take nursing," she said. "A lot of the other NCAA division one schools that I was talking to recommended, not to take that path just because of how demanding the sport is, and the academic work that goes around nursing as well."
With her rookie season of pro hockey in the PostFinance Women's League ahead, the PWHL waiting, and a nursing degree in her back pocket, the future looks bright for Brooklyn Schneiderhan.