After three years of hard work in school and on the ice Daniella Calogheros has accomplished her goal.
She committed to a five-year scholarship with the University of Calgary where she'll study while playing hockey for the Dinos.
"I got to go home and share the news with all my friends and family then I decided to sign the papers on Christmas morning," said Calogheros.
The 17-year-old left Prince George to attend the Pursuit of Excellence (POE) hockey academy in Kelowna three years ago before switching to the newly created midget program for girls at the Okanagan Hockey Academy (OHA) the last two years with her mind set on obtaining a scholarship to university.
"The whole point of going to the academy was to get to university so I could get my degree," said Calogheros. "I use hockey to get where I want to go for school."
She said the decision to attend university in Calgary and play for the Dinos was easy.
"Last year we had a couple of games down there and they let us tour the school," said the former student at College Heights secondary. " I just loved the coach and the school grounds. It just seemed like the right fit, as soon as I stepped on the campus I knew it was where I wanted to go."
An added bonus is Calogheros will get to play alongside one of the most decorated female hockey players in Canada.
"As soon as you play at a higher skill level you yourself get better and playing with Hayley Wickenheiser gives you that opportunity to be better," said Calogheros about the Canadian Olympic gold medalist and forward with the Dinos.
The OHA midget girls were at the Junior Women's Hockey League's Challenge Cup in Washington D.C. from Feb. 16 to 20 where they finished with a 2-2-1 record.
"It's probably one of the biggest leagues you can get into for women's hockey in North America," said Calogheros. "My school's not in it yet but we were invited to the tournament. It was a big step for a second-year program to be invited."
The JWHL is a hockey league for girls' academy in North America with east and west divisions and includes the Edge School from Alberta and Balmoral Hall from Manitoba.
"It gave us a lot of confidence playing against academies that were established for 20 or 30 years that we could compete with or potentially beat," said Calogheros.
OHA has had boys' hockey programs for the past seven years but only iced its first midget girls team in 2010-2011.
"It was pretty cool to be around at the start," said Calogheros, who was recruited by coach OHA Rebecca Russell when she was in Duncan playing for Team North at a B.C. under-18 hockey tournament.
"She said she was starting a brand-new program and looking for players," said Calogheros. "She took a chance on me and I decided that would be a better fit for me than Pursuit."
OHA is on an 11-game win streak - not including games in Washington D.C. - having beat the Fraser Valley Phantoms 2-1 in overtime in back-to-back games and having swept a three-game exhibition series in Penticton last weekend. OHA held the edge in shots over the three games 127-42. The team is prepping for the playoffs from March 2 to 4.
Calogheros said after a respectable inaugural season where the OHA girls finished with an above .500 record, they've posted a 33-7-6 record this season. In 36 games Calogheros has eight goals and 23 points, including two game-winning goals.
"I like to think that I'm a stay-at-home defenceman," said the five-foot-four, 135 pound player. "I like to be the stay at home, rough and tough, Steady Eddie kind of defenceman."
Calogheros said she'd encourage other girls into hockey to look into switching from club to academy hockey.
"I would say that a lot of people in Prince George don't understand that academies are worth the time, the money and just worth going to," said Calogheros, who credits her parents Michele and Jose with letting her pursue her dream. "Academies, I think, are going to become the new frontier of hockey.
"I'd fully support academies over any club team," she added. "Not just hockey-wise but you develop as a person. If you're not performing at school then you're not performing on the ice."
Calogheros said she plans to earn a psychology degree in Calgary before studying kinesiology.
"It's something that I'm really interested in to stay involved in the hockey world," she said.
