Mary Elizabeth McCafferty '17 Recruiting Profile

At the age of 15 I made the decision to ship myself away to Canada for a sport I fell in love with at the age of 11. Being raised in a hockey family it was hard to shy away from the sport. Following in the foot steps of my older brother, I played on all the basic house league and teams in my town. When you are a kid, you go through everyday not really thinking what the purpose of everything is. Everyday I would go to school, come home, do homework and then be on my way to practice. I never looked at hockey to be something that would shape who I am today. I never thought that this sport would change my whole life. Entering high school I realized that hockey was something bigger then just a “sport” I played as a kid. This “sport” turned into something that I would revolve my days around. Practice soon became extremely meaningful to me, I had personal trainers in the gym and I would leave almost every weekend for hockey games and tournaments. Hockey was one of the most important things to me, I was addicted to it. The hockey in Wall Township, New Jersey was not good enough for me. I wanted more. I craved more. What other place to play hockey then in the hockey country itself. Canada. Ontario Hockey Academy came into the picture in the summer going into my junior year. Being approached by OHA to play for there school had taken me back. The thought of leaving home finally became reality. 

I am currently in the third year at OHA.  I am what they call a “PG” or a post grad. This is a process you go through after you graduate, to hold yourself back academically or athletically. I decided to take this year before going to college to grow academically, athletically and also as a person. I wanted to make sure the college I was going to, is the one I can get the best four years of my life. After this PG year I will be at my college of choice, playing women's ice hockey and excelling on and off the ice. Looking back to the days that all of this was only a possibility, is life changing. I think coming to OHA has given me an advantage over some other kids. I am more sociable, I find myself to be very responsible and have achieved personal goals on and off the ice. I now have this mindset that I want to strive for nothing but success while I'm in college, with out OHA none of this would have been possible. In a way, I found who I am. For that, I am forever thankful.