Fiala Living The Dream With Finlandia
Fiala celebrates with teammates. (Contributed Photo)
Alena Fiala, left wing for the Finlandia Lions women’s hockey team is eager to get back on the ice next fall. This will be Fiala’s second year playing varsity hockey for the Division III University.
Looking back on her decision to attend a university in the States, Fiala says it has always been a childhood dream of hers.
“Although it was difficult moving 12 hours away from my family and friends, I felt like I belonged there,” she says. “Being from a small town, Finlandia felt like home.”
Playing varsity has helped to build Fiala up both athletically and academically. She says the school provides her with many resources to help her excel.
“Our professors are really good at working with athletes. Most of the, really care about the students and are helping us to build our degrees toward grad school,” she says. “Balancing school and hockey can be overwhelming, but I love practicing every day – even if 5am practices are sometimes rough.”
The UCC graduate aims to make a lasting impact on Finlandia’s hockey program.
“I’m looking forward to a lot of things,” she says. “I really want to step up my game and become a better leader on and off the ice, and I’m interested to see what the new freshmen will bring to the team.”
So far, she has had great success in her varsity hockey career. Reflecting on the previous two seasons, she says that the first win of her freshman year meant the most to her.
“Our team went four years without a win,” she says. “We were finally able to break the streak.”
Having been involved in hockey from a young age, Fiala is grateful to have the opportunity to continue playing the game she loves. Playing at a university level, she is being granted many exciting opportunities.
“This August I will be traveling to Prague with the North American All Stars women’s hockey team to play in a tournament with some of my teammates and other players from all over Canada and America.”
Hockey has opened many doors for the young athlete, and Fiala is anxiously awaiting the end of the summer so she can finally strap on her skates after a long offseason.
“Obviously, I’m pretty excited to get back on the ice where I love to be. The off season without hockey really does make me miss it.”