38 | FEBRUARY 18 • 2021 

A

s a little girl, Elyssa Biederman 
cried the first time her parents 
laced up her tiny white figure 
skates. She does not remember sobbing 
throughout the entire preschool learn-
to-skate class. Still, the story is a family 
favorite, especially now that Biederman will 
be playing women’s ice hockey for Colgate 
University in New York State. She’ll join the 
Division 1 college team in the fall of 2022 
after graduating from Birmingham Groves 
High School.
Biederman’s disdain for skating was 
brief. By the time she was 4 or 5, she ended 
up back on the ice — this time in hockey 
skates. The reintroduction came when her 
family participated in a hockey event orga-
nized by her older brother’s coach. 
There was something about shooting a 
puck that captivated Biederman, and she 
left the arena that day with a newly discov-
ered passion. Her parents, Maria and Jason 
Biederman, enrolled their middle child in a 
hockey skills clinic, where she spent the next 
few years honing her skills. 
“I don’t remember not having hockey 
in my life,
” said Biederman, who lives in 
Franklin. “If I weren’t playing the game, it 
wouldn’t feel right. There’s a creativity that 
comes with playing. It’s not like football or 
baseball. In hockey, there is a flow. You have 
to read and react.
”
Around the age of 8, Biederman joined an 
all-boys team where she stayed for five years. 
During that time, she would come across 
other female players who were also the only 
girls on their respective teams.
“She played with the same team for 
many years, so it always felt very normal 
for her and her teammates,
” said her mom, 
Maria Biederman, who described her 
daughter as “this little firecracker on ice. 
Some people call her the ‘Energizer Bunny’ 

because she darts off the bench, ready 
to engage.
” 
Biederman, now 16, switched to a 
girls’ team in eighth grade and currently 
plays on a Little Caesars 16-and-under 
team. Little Caesars is one of only four 
organizations in Michigan offering Tier 
1 (AAA) girls’ hockey. 
She switched teams when she got to a 
level where the boys were checking. The 
thought of Biederman, who stands at 
5”-1’
, being knocked against the boards 
or pushed to the ice by a male player, 
made it an easy decision for this hockey 
forward. 

FEWER OPPORTUNITIES
Being the only girl on a bench of boys 
and playing a sport dominated by male 
athletes has never been an issue. What 
bothers Biederman is the fact that there 
aren’t as many opportunities for female 
hockey players. 
There is a six-team National Women’s 
Hockey League. Biederman said NWHL 
players are poorly compensated compared to 
NHL players, and most of the women must 
have other careers in addition to playing the 
game.
“I don’t think it’s fair that men can survive 
on a salary from hockey, but women can’t,
” 
explained Biederman. She went on to say that 
if she has a chance to go to the Olympics, she 
plans to use the opportunity as a platform to 
advocate for equality within the sport. 
Kenny Ryan coaches Biederman and 
describes her as “one of those naturally gift-
ed players with a work ethic that separates 
her from the others. She has a real love for 
hockey. In terms of girls’ hockey in Detroit, 
I think everyone probably knows of Elyssa 
Biederman. She’s a very gifted athlete with a 
bright future.
” 

Twice so far, she has been among an elite 
group of players from around the country 
selected to participate in a player devel-
opment camp. This puts her on a path to 
potentially being invited to play on the U.S. 
National Team and, ultimately, the Olympics. 
In addition to her individual accomplish-
ments, she and her Little Caesars team-
mates have been to Nationals twice. They 
were expected to go a third time as the No. 
2 ranked girls’ 16U team in the country. 
However, COVID forced the cancellation of 
the tournament.
When she’s not on the ice, Biederman 
spends much of her time watching NHL 
highlight clips and videos from her games 
to help her grow as a player. She also runs 
cross country and plays guitar. She’s a stu-
dent coach for the Little Caesars girls 12U 
team, works as a madrich (volunteer assistant) 
at Adat Shalom’s Hebrew school and is a 
National Honor Society member. 

Hockey star, 16, has her eyes set 
on bigger goals.

JENNIFER LOVY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A Natural 
on the Ice

SPORTS

Elyssa Biederman plays 

forward on the

Little Caesars girls 

16-and-under team.

COURTESY OF MARIA BIEDERMAN

