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03/17/2016 12:00 AMHannah Pederson didn’t learn how to skate until she started playing hockey when she was 12. In a sport that requires unique skills that most kids start learning years earlier, Hannah was miles behind the pack. To say the other players could skate circles around her was not just a figure of speech.
“Twelve is a very late start to play hockey and I’d never skated before. You have to learn to do everything differently because walking is nothing like skating,” says Hannah, a sophomore at Valley who plays in the Yale Youth Hockey Association. “I’m lucky because I’ve had great coaches who helped me develop my skills and it’s made me a better player and helped me develop as a person, too.”
Hannah fell in love with hockey when her mother Carrie took her to watch the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League up in Hartford. With no girls’ youth programs in the immediate area, Hannah and her parents searched for a place where she could indulge her new passion and so she joined the Whalers Youth Hockey Association. In her first season, Hannah played against the boys, while learning about the game and how to maneuver around the ice, which was a difficult indoctrination.
“I could barely stand up on skates while playing in a boys’ league. I was the only girl and I learned to skate faster and getting into a game environment really helped,” she says. “All of that made me work really hard to get to where I am now.”
The next year, the Pederson family found the Yale Youth Hockey Association and it proved the perfect fit for Hannah. It was still a struggle at first when Hannah hit the ice as others had years of experience on her, but she persevered through the rough patches to become the starting right defensemen on the girls’ team and helped the club win several tournaments. Now in her third year of hockey at age 15, Hannah is playing in a U-19 league against girls who are older and bigger, although that hardly fazes her.
“It’s a little tough playing a tier up this year and it’s an adjustment when you are going against people who drive themselves to the rink, but I love the mental and physical challenges hockey presents,” says Hannah, a Deep River native. “I also love the aspect that you do everything for your teammates. To be good, you have to play together and that strengthens the bond and you become a family.”
Hannah’s worked extremely hard to catch up to the other players and has also trained with a private coach in Mike Harder, who’s an assistant for Colgate University’s men’s ice hockey squad. The extra sessions have paid off and Coach Harder sees Hannah’s game progressing every day.
“When Hannah came to us, she was raw. She had zero hockey skills at that point, but through persistence, perspiration, and a lot of high-fives, she has become a great player,” Harder says. “Hannah is the reason youth coaches do what they do—to find a Hannah Pederson. She is an inspiration to coaches. She makes you better at your job because you see her getting better and better each day. Hannah is also just a great kid. She laughs at my jokes, is always smiling, she’s an amazing person who has become a terrific player when most kids would’ve given up, but she persevered.”
Hannah netted two goals and took great pride in protecting her defensive zone when playing in a U-14 league last year. This past season, she scored a goal at the U-19 level and became even more dominant on the back line. Hannah’s improvement is duly noted by her Head Coach John Sather, who teaches at Yale University’s School of Medicine.
“It is amazing that she can compete on this level and it is clearly recognized by all what she has accomplished. It is a testament to her work ethic. To be thrust in at such a young age against seniors that are bigger, stronger, and faster, to rise to that adversity has been an inspiration,” says Sather. “Hannah’s positive attitude and remarkable work ethic distinguishes her and has rubbed off on the rest of the team. She’s the first one on the ice and last one off, works hard in every drill, and spurs the team on to match that level and intensity. She’s also very intelligent and easy to coach. Hannah acquires skills, focuses, and masters them. The position she chose to play, as a defensemen, is very difficult. You need to have puck skills and you have to skate backwards, maintain edge control. To see her pass kids who started playing years before her tells you a lot about her ability as a player and a person.”
The fact that Hannah has progressed this quickly shows her determination, yet she also excels in several other arenas. When she’s isn’t clearing the puck out of harm’s way, Hannah sings with the Valley Madrigals, an elite choir group that’s performed at Carnegie Hall and has won multiple national awards. She also rows with the Warriors’ crew team in the spring and has achieved high honors every term at Valley Regional. The epitome of a student-athlete, Hannah has achieved a great deal of success the past few years and she attributes that to playing hockey, along with all the people who’ve helped her overcome the odds.
“I’ve met so many great people through playing hockey and it has helped me grow not only on the ice, but as a person,” Hannah says. “My coaches Mike Harder and Matt Whitney and Coach Sather have helped me so much. They really helped me find myself, have been so supportive, and I am so lucky to have them as coaches. My parents put so much time and money into taking me all over New England to play hockey. I can never thank them enough.”