Sarah Kennedy hardly had a chance to celebrate the biggest achievement of her young life. Kennedy discovered last month that she had been awarded a scholarship to study next year at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. 

“I had been waiting to hear about it for almost a month,” she recalls. “I went down for an official visit in September and right after that they told me that I was one of their top priorities ... then they told me to get all the application information in.”

Kennedy logged on to the school website one day in December and discovered that she’d made the grade.

“I was really hoping to go to that school,” she says of her initial reaction. “I loved it when I was down there and I was just like, wow, I was so happy that it worked out.” Kennedy didn’t have much time to savour the moment, however.

“I had time to get up and get a drink of water and then I had to go for our team workout.”

Playing hockey away from home is nothing new for this talented Jasperite. Kennedy is currently with the West Yellowhead AAA Timberwolves women’s midget hockey team based in Spruce Grove, and before that she suited up for the Warner hockey school in southern Alberta. Kennedy had also considered returning, but decided to stay closer to home in Spruce Grove for a number of reasons.

“We have goalie coaching every two days and I knew I’d get a chance to play often,” she says. Kennedy has been the team’s starting goaltender this season and says that she has been playing well. “I’ve had a really good year, we keep tying every single game but that’s ok.”

Kennedy first attracted the attention of scouts from American universities when she played in a tournament in Minnesota. Pursued by several schools, including Clarkson and North Dakota, her preference had always been the Ivy League college on the East Coast.

“I’m a small town girl and I don’t do well in bigger places ... it’s the smallest Ivy League school,” she says. “I actually went to classes with a couple of the girls and the class sizes are the same as what I’m used to in high school.”

Dartmouth, located in Hanover, New Hampshire, boasts a competitive hockey team as well.

“They are in Division One of the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) and they’re up there,” Kennedy says. “They’ve been to the Frozen Four (NCAA hockey’s national championship) for the past couple of years.”

Kennedy should have a chance to play right away, she hopes.

“Basically there are only two goalies there this year and you’re allowed to have three. There will only be one returning and she’ll be a junior so there won’t be that much difference in age between us,” she says.

While on her visit to campus this fall, Kennedy noticed a striking difference in the calibre of her future teammates when compared to her current ones in Spruce Grove.

“They’re all very, very talented hockey players at Dartmouth and you never see them not working hard,” she says. “They’re all there because they were the top players on their teams.”

Kennedy is determined to finish the midget season strong, but also to take advantage of the freedom she knows will vanish when she enters the Dartmouth program.

“After this, hockey is life,” she says. “You’re on the ice every day and also doing off-ice training every day.”

Putting on the pads so often has never been a problem for Kennedy, who started playing hockey when she was in the fifth grade.

“I just loved it, I always wanted to play hockey or go skate. I just kept going with it because I loved it,” she says. Like so many young hockey players, she dreamed of wearing the Maple Leaf one day, and then found her goals shifting as she matured.

“When you’re little you want to play for Team Canada but as you get older you realize that you want to play university hockey ... and when you start getting these letters you realize that it actually could happen. It’s not just a dream.”

The reality of living across the continent will have an impact on Kennedy’s family as well, but her parents are proud of her accomplishments.

“They’re really happy for me, very excited,” she says. “It is a very long way away and my mom’s going to be a little bit sad about it but at the same time she’s so proud. My dad ... I’m pretty sure that half the town of Jasper knew within a couple of hours.” 

Kennedy brought a Dartmouth hat back as a souvenir for her father after her recruiting visit and it’s recently become an essential part of his wardrobe.

“ Since I got in he hasn’t stopped wearing it,” she says.

Although Ivy League schools are not able to offer complete scholarships, Kennedy and her parents will have to pay less than $8,000 Canadian out of an initial tuition price tag that soars above $40,000 US. The university will cover her flights to and from school as well as providing all new goalie equipment when she arrives.

Of course, hockey isn’t the only part of the new adventure that lies ahead. Kennedy is interested in studying criminology and forensics at Dartmouth and is looking forward to the academic opportunities that will come along with an Ivy League education. As part of her application process, Kennedy was interviewed by former Jasperite Mark Sikkes, now a lawyer in London, England, and the only other local to have attended Dartmouth. They discussed the job offers and career changes he has been able to enjoy since his graduation. 

With only 1,000 of the 12,000 annual applicants accepted every year, Kennedy is well aware that she is entering a very exclusive environment. It was well worth the effort she had to expend on applying, she says.

“It was stressful, I had about a week to get everything ready ... I had to get teachers to write reference letters, and I had to get one of my teammates to write an essay about me and I had to do my own essays and paperwork as well,” she recalls. “I just wanted to keep playing hockey as long as I could and this is how it played out.”