Ice hockey player Eom Su-yeon to join NCAA Division 1

Eom Su-yeon, who played as a defenseman for Korea’s unified ice hockey team in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, has been drafted into the U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 women’s college hockey for the first time as a female South Korean ice hockey player.

According to the Korea Ice Hockey Association (KIHA) on Tuesday, Eom has been admitted to St. Lawrence University in New York as a hockey player. Although it is not sure when universities are reopening due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Eom will be writing a history in Korean female ice hockey if she gets admitted to the college in September as planned. This feat is close to a miracle considering that there is no women’s ice hockey team in South Korea from elementary school to university.

There were cases where South Korean female ice hockey players were drafted into the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. Former goaltender for Korea’s unified ice hockey team Shin So-jung played for St. Francis Xavier and forward Park Jong-ah was recruited to University of Saskatchewan in Canada. But Eom is the first South Korean player to join the NCAA Division 1, which is rated higher than the Canadian college league.

Ever since Eom started playing ice hockey following her older brother, who was an ice hockey player, she was a promising ice hockey player. Former Korean national team head coach Sarah Murray recognized Eom’s talent and gave her one-on-one training. The KIHA also gave Eom a full support by sending her to the Ontario Hockey Academy in Cornwall, Canada in 2015. Eom will be entering a college after graduating from the OHA.

Eom is planning to major in business in college. “I’ll train hard and study hard,” she said. “I won’t be content with just achieving my dream of joining the NCAA Division 1. I’ll work harder to dream higher.”


Heon-Jae Lee uni@donga.com