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