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At four years old, Emily Fischer was given a choice: figure skating or hockey.

Her answer was simple.

“Figure skating with a stick.”

Fischer has been playing hockey ever since.

“What started with a four-year-old choosing ‘figure skating with a stick’ became a dream of playing hockey at Dawson.”

Growing up, Fischer spent plenty of time at the rink watching her older brother play. Her father had also played hockey and the sport had always been a big part of his life. It quickly became a big part of hers too.

By the Peewee or Bantam level, Fischer already had her sights set on Dawson College. At the time, she was doing private sessions with former Dawson coach and hockey player Kayla Tutino, who toldher about the program.

“Ever since then, I wanted to pursue my hockey at Dawson,” Fischer said. “I am very lucky to be able to live that dream.”

But getting to Dawson was not always an easy path.

In Secondary II, Fischer played on her school’s hockey team, which was made up entirely of boys. She and a friend were the first girls to play on the team.

“We felt we had to work harder and prove that we were not only good enough, but better, to be on the team and accepted by the boys,” Fischer recalled.

Fischer described the experience as a stressful time in her life. While she eventually felt accepted by her teammates, she credits her coach for making sure she and her friend felt welcome and were treated like any of the other players.

By the end of the season, Fischer had become a member of the team’s leadership group and was selected as captain. She helped lead the team to a championship game.

Her experience was not completely negative, but it showed Fischer what it could feel like to enter a sport where girls can sometimes feel like they have to prove themselves.

“I know many girls have had it harder than I have when coming to being accepted in a male-dominated sport,” she said.

At Dawson, Fischer found a different kind of environment.

“Playing on the women’s hockey team at Dawson has been the best thing to ever happen to me,” she revealed.

The program has helped her develop both on and off the ice. Fischer said her nutrition, workouts, and concentration on her studies have all improved since joining the team. But most importantly, she has built relationships with her teammates.

“I have made lifelong sisters that I know have my back, and the environment is very welcoming,” she said.

For Fischer, the path forward in women’s hockey still has its challenges. She believes there are fewer opportunities for women to continue playing at different levels compared to men, particularly after CEGEP. She also believes that the financial realities of playing professionally can make it difficult for players to rely on hockey as their only career.

Her solution is simple: create more opportunities.

“I believe that there need to be more teams available for girls to join,” Fischer asserted. “We need to stop using the past as an excuse and just focus on making the future better.”

More teams, she believes, means more players getting the chance to develop and potentially reach the professional level.

Fischer hopes to be one of those players. After Dawson, she wants to continue playing at university, while still putting her academics first. She plans to keep playing for as long as she can and, if playing eventually comes to an end, she could see herself becoming a coach.

“I will continue to play hockey for as long as I am able to,” Fischer said. “And if I can’t play for any reason I will most probably go into coaching so it will always be part of my life.”

From choosing “figure skating with a stick” at four years old to becoming captain of an all-boys team and eventually reaching the Dawson womens’ hockey program she dreamed about, Fischer’s path has not always been easy.

But she has never stopped choosing hockey.

Her advice to the next generation of girls is to do the same, but to remember why they started.

“Be who you are and work with the obstacles,” Fischer recommended. “And make sure that you love it. If you don’t love it, then you’re not doing it for the right reasons.”

For Fischer, it seems that love started with a stick, a pair of skates and a four-year-old’s version of figure skating.