Ella Felix

My hockey background

I started playing hockey at a club called ‘Graspiepers’. In my second year of the MO14, I joined the hockey club Zwolle. I really wanted to play on a higher level and that is why I did a couple of try-out training sessions at two different clubs. Both clubs selected me, so I had to make a choice. My choice was, and still is, Zwolle. In my first season, we became the best team in the ‘Topklasse’ pool and qualified for the indoor National Championships. Not only in the MO14, but also in the MO16, we attended the indoor National Championships. It was a huge achievement for my team and me.

I have several strengths. The first one is speed. This is something I have put a lot of hours into, and it has become one of my qualities. As a hockey player, I have a scoring instinct. I score a lot of goals at important moments. My biggest strength, both on and off the field, is my work ethic. I want to become a better player and person every day. Besides my regular hockey training at Zwolle, I do a lot of extra training. For example, a program to improve my physical performance. This program is called ‘Onfire Performance’, and it really helps me to get better. Onfire Performance is run by Raoul Ehren (head coach of the Dutch national women’s team), Hannes Agache and Sjoerd Marijne. My specialty is the drag flick, which I have been working on for three years with Maartje Paumen (a multiple Olympic champion and all-time top female athlete) and this improved my technique and consistency in drag flicks under pressure. She said that my drag flick is one of the best drag flicks in the country (in the MO16), so she is my private trainer and mentor.

Why play college hockey in America?

I really want to go to America, because I want to improve myself as a player to get ready for the ‘Hoofdklasse’. That is my goal, and I think playing hockey in America on the highest level supports that. Playing hockey with other adult players for a long time makes me an experienced player and this allows me to become a great hockey player in the Netherlands, in the ‘Hoofdklasse’. I like playing hockey, but I also like studying. That is why I want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in America, so I can do my master's back in the Netherlands. Studying in English will help me back home, because some of the master’s programs I want to complete are in that language and it supports my work career after hockey. 

I am a very competitive person and I don’t like losing. So, with my college team I want to become National Champions. I aim at the highest university possible when it comes to hockey, and I want to pursue a bachelor’s degree that suits me. Not only playing hockey in America seems cool to me, but sports in America are much bigger in America than in the Netherlands and I like watching sport, so I am really looking forward to it. I want to get as much out of it as possible and develop into an adult player and reach my full potential.