FORT FRANCES — In the following school year, Piper Miller will face one of the biggest changes of her life and see her dreams come one step closer to reality.
The former Fort Frances Muskies hockey player is preparing to graduate from her senior year at Pilot Mound Hockey Academy and has committed to play NCAA Division III hockey for Marian University Sabres beginning in Fall 2024.
While playing collegiate-level hockey, Miller will also work toward attaining her bachelor’s degree in psychology, a career choice rooted in her desire to give back to the sport.
“It's gonna be a bigger change than what I'm used to for sure,” she said. “But honestly, I think my family has helped me prepare for it as well as my friends… So I think I'll be as prepared as I can be for that and not let anything knock me down. I just gotta keep working.”
Miller’s relentless dedication to the sport paved the way for her to play in the Forward position for the Sabres in Wisconsin.
Her first introduction to hockey began at the young age of 4 years old. Before her move to Fort Frances in 2013, Miller excelled in Ringette as a young girl. Her minor hockey career took place with the Fort Frances Girls and Women's Hockey Association, and then she graduated to the Fort Frances Muskies in Grade 10.
“Witnessing Piper's growth, both on the ice and academically, fills me with immense pride,” said Miller’s father, Craig, who coached the U13 Competitive Leaf's team for the Fort Frances Girls and Women's Hockey Association alongside Ray Allam when his daughter was part of the division. “Piper consistently poured 100% effort into every practice and game. Piper's enthusiasm for her teammates' success was unwavering, making her a leader on her teams.”
Miller’s mother, Nicole, her biggest cheerleader, has also been heavily involved in her minor hockey career as a team manager and hockey board member and an active girls' hockey volunteer.
“She had a few offers and the decision was hers to make, we are just thankful that she has chosen a school and hockey program that is close enough to home so we can continue our travels to watch her play and we look forward to the next four years,” Nicole said.
For her final two years of high school, Miller moved to Manitoba to attend Pilot Mound Hockey Academy, a facility that contains a hockey arena, curling rink, and recreation areas for training.
Students live in dorms but attend a public school outside of the academy. Miller’s favourite part about being in the academy is meeting people from all over the country. “It's such a great experience. We get to learn about each other and get close with people you wouldn't think you'd get to meet in your regular life,” she said.
Around 5 seniors on the girls team at Pilot Mound Academy, including herself, have signed with teams in the States to pursue their schooling and hockey at a collegiate level.
Miller considered various careers all related to sports, such as becoming an athletic therapist but still finds herself most interested in sports psychology. In her experience, many athletes believe the stigma that “mental health isn’t a thing.”
Sacrifices to play higher-level sports often require young athletes to miss school, sometimes for up to a week, and fall behind in their studies compared to their peers. The pressure to perform well on the ice and keep up with peers is something that not many understand, Miller says, adding that it could lead to negative thought patterns and further issues that impact athletic performance.
“Mental and physical, they go hand in hand. If you're not doing mentally well, you're most likely going to get physically injured while playing or practicing,” she said.
This year, due to several collisions on ice, Miller had a few injuries herself that have impacted her ability to play at her fullest. “That’s a completely different mental battle than anyone actually thinks unless you go through it,” she said.
“I want to give back to the sport I grew up in,” she said. “There’s a lot of athletes like me that didn’t get help or didn’t have the right mentality growing up.”
The realization that there are teammates who may be facing the same thoughts and feelings as yourself was an eye-opener for Miller. When doctors may not understand the source of pain and mental burden faced by athletes, the need for specialized psychologists is needed more than ever, she said.
Sometimes, having support outside of the sport is also critical for mental wellbeing, Miller says, noting a friend back home in Fort Frances.
“They’re my outlet, they’re my escape, they’re my support when I don’t feel like talking to my teammates here,” she said.
Over her hockey career, Miller had many coaches that helped shape her into the player and person she is today, including Brad Cousineau, Ray Allam, Mike Bodnarchuk, Les Kaun, Emily Martin, Amy Penner. Dylan Grinsell and Nicole Clarke.
Her biggest advice to young people figuring out their path in life is to follow what your heart wants, not necessarily what other people expect you to do.
“I played a lot of sports, and I had a lot of different loves for a lot of different sports. But I always find myself going back to hockey,” she said. “I've just had to stay true to myself and once I did that, everything was a lot more clear and a lot easier to kind of navigate your way through.”
“It's just trusting yourself. You can tell when someone truly has a love for a game and when they want to keep playing, and when they want to push for that next level. And you can tell when there's someone that’s kind of like, ‘Oh, I don't know how I'm feeling about the sport anymore.’ … You're self-reflecting and then coming to terms with it.”
Lastly, to athletes looking to push themselves to the next level, Miller reminds them to take tryouts and practices seriously.
“It's okay to have fun, but don't be stupid about it because everybody's watching. It doesn't matter who, but everybody's watching it. Everyone has connections… it doesn't take long for something to get back to a coach.”
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