Sports

Beeton student excels at collegiate level Division 1 hockey at U.S. college

March 27, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

A Beeton resident is playing at the highest level of U.S. collegiate hockey and has been named to the conference All-Rookie Team.

Jordana DeMarinis plays goalie for the Saint Michael’s College Purple Knights in Burlington, Vermont. She just completed her first season with the Division 1 college team after a hockey journey that had a lot of twists and turns before she landed with this team.

Jordana said she was always surrounded by hockey as a young girl.

“I grew up around hockey,” Jordana said. “My dad’s a huge hockey fan, and so are my uncle and my grandfather. I always wanted to play it, so they put me in hockey.”

She started playing with the Aurora Panthers.

Playing goalie is a tough position but Jordana loves it.

“I was the worst player on the team, I couldn’t skate,” Jordana explained. “At that age nobody wants to be goalie – you kind of rotate in. But they put me in net, and I loved it. I think I did everyone a favour by playing goal.”

After gaining some experience, Jordana tried out for a rep team in Aurora, Ont. but didn’t make the team.

She was so discouraged that she considered giving up hockey. However, her dad got a call from a coach telling him that a team in Georgina at the same level, was doing tryouts. 

The tryouts for the Georgina Golden Hawks were being held on her birthday.

At first, she said ‘no,’ she didn’t want to play anymore.

Both her father and her uncle encouraged her to try out for the team. She made the squad and later in the season, they played the first team she tried out for.

“We played the team I got cut from, and we beat that team 1-0,” Jordan said about getting the shut-out. “I went to shake hands with their coach, and he said, ‘this is the goalie we didn’t take.’ I will never forget that.”

Jordana played on several different teams over the next few years in an effort to progress in the sport and play at higher levels.

She had her goal set to play at the junior level and made a U22 Elite team in Cambridge.

“I feel that during that year I really grew as a player and matured,” Jordana said. “I had several goals playing hockey, and my final goal was to go to school and play hockey.”

Jordana was supposed to go back to Cambridge and play another year when she got a surprise text from the coach at Saint Michael’s College.

“This was super late in the year, and he asked me what my plans were for next year,” Jordana explained. “At first I thought it was a scam.”

After several texts and a telephone call, the coach asked her if she would consider playing for Saint Michael’s.

After touring the campus, Jordana agreed to sign up.

Playing hockey at the Division 1 level has been rewarding for her.

“It’s so much fun but it’s hard work. You have to balance your time between school and hockey,” Jordana said. “It takes a lot out of you. We have early morning practices. I was up at 5:30 every morning. You have to manage your time – you get your work done in class, pay attention in class and use your resources, whether it’s meeting with professors or going to study hall. It’s so easy to fall behind, especially if you’re going away all the time (on hockey road trips).”

On top of playing top-tier hockey, Jordana said her academic performance and success in the classroom are equally important to her.

Some of the team’s road trips involve a nine-hour bus trip to get to a game so it’s a pretty grueling schedule.

Even though the season is over, Jordana will be back on the ice soon as the team prepares for the next season. 

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