Lee Boyadjian
If knowing where you have been can help guide where you’re going, Chihiro Suzuki is certain hockey will be in her future. The 23-year-old has played in all four countries she’s lived in and, in some cases, found it to be the fastest way to fit in.
“In Shanghai, half of the team spoke English and half of them didn’t speak any English at all, or Japanese,” Suzuki says. “So it was like half of the team that I couldn’t even have a conversation with, but we were somehow great friends even though I never spoke a word to them.
“Hockey has always, always, always been a community that I could rely on everywhere I went.”
A native of from Yokohama, Japan, Suzuki got into the game by her father after he was introduced to it while living in Russia. Despite a lack of infrastructure in Japan (she says arenas are at least two hours apart in the southern part of the country) Suzuki and her two older brothers quickly became enraptured by the game and would spend 15 hours every weekend doing skating drills, at an arena three hours away from home.
“I would go to school and say that I play hockey and [people would say] ‘Oh my goshm you can stop?’” Suzuki says. Skating and hockey were just not skills or pastimes shared by many in Japan.
After a stop in New Jersey and a return to Yokohama, the family moved to Canada, Suzuki was eager to get back on the ice and showcase her skills, but she was in for a few surprises. Not only was the game strategy very different in Canada, but so was the roster. She was in U13 and, for the first time, playing on an all-girls team.
“Before going to my very first practice [in Belleville, Ontario], I was thinking there is no way this small of a town can put together a hockey team with just girls, who are as good as me,” Suzuki remembers with a laugh. “And then I went and they were all better than me and I realized there was so much more to it.”
Suzuki says that moment changed a lot for her, and she embraced the more competitive environment of Canadian hockey. Her newfound passion for the game, combined with years of skill development abroad, meant she was a dynamic player who found a lot of success as she grew, ultimately landing with the University of Guelph in U SPORTS.
“We could tell that her passion for the game was the main drive for her desire to reach her full potential,” says Katie Mora, head coach of the Gryphons. “Chi became an impact player for us … and evolved as a leader on the team, being someone that was looked upon for her work ethic and instilling belief in her teammates.”
That work ethic prompted Mora to recommend Suzuki for the Creating Coaches program. Launched in 2021 through a partnership between Hockey Canada, U SPORTS and the Hockey Canada Foundation, Creating Coaches provides training and mentorship to active U SPORTS student-athletes who are looking to begin their coaching careers.
“I learned so much about myself as a player and as a person just being in the game from a completely different perspective,” Suzuki says. “I’m a very emotional player … but then coaching, there’s something about it.
“I had the patience that I never had for myself and I had the positivity that I was never able to give myself.”
With her university degree complete, Suzuki will be using all she learned in Creating Coaches to continue to build her hockey community and her role within it. A role, Mora says, is vital to the sustainability of the game.
“Having coaches and players from non-traditional hockey backgrounds provides different perspectives and allows for deeper, more meaningful collaboration,” Mora explains. “It also creates role models in the sport that inspire an even broader audience that can now see a clear pathway in their sport.”
Suzuki doesn’t see herself as a role model for young Japanese hockey players, despite having made an appearance on the national team at the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship. She does, however, think her journey could be used as a guide for those looking to advance in the game.
“I would love for [younger girls in Japan] to venture out and try and see what’s out there, the way I did,” Suzuki says, noting that the game is played so differently in North America than in Japan.
At the core, though, we’re all just speaking one language – hockey.