Photographer-Matt Raney
Ice hockey player Kelsey Koelzer has broken the barrier as the first Black person to coach hockey in the National Collegiate Athletic Association division (NCAA.)
Koelzer is the head women’s hockey coach at Arcadia University, making the 25-year-old the first Black hockey coach in the NCAA division.
Koelzer is from Horsham, Pennsylvania where she has been playing hockey since she was a little girl. As a child, she played on the boys’ teams until she was a young teenager. As a Black woman, Koelzer dealt with both gender and racial discrimination in the prodominately white and male-dominated sport.
“The first obstacle I ever faced in hockey was being the girl as opposed to being the Black player. That’s something I faced right off the bat, whether it was parents, players, or coaches,” Koelzer said in an NBC Sports interview.
While a student-athlete at Princeton University, she played hockey and became the team’s first ever All-American.
Her achievements include being a three-time First-Team All-Ivy League honoree and was the number one draft pick for the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) in 2016, which was another first in the Black community.
“Having the chance to know I’m potentially making it easier for someone like me to have a chance down the line to do the same, I think that’s something that helps to motivate me and helps put things into perspective for me.” said Koelzer
In 2019, Koelzer was hired to lead the recruitment and program development for the Arcadia Knights women’s hockey team at Arcadia University.
As of March 2021, she was also appointed to the role of Advisor to the Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the NWHL.
At 25, Koelzer continues to break barriers in the NCAA while encouraging others, especially the youth. As a longtime player Koelzer has said that coaching the team would be a brand new experience for her but one that she’s looking forward to accomplishing.
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