Ice Hockey: Strabane teen selected for Canada school sports programme

For the past four years, Molly made the journey from Strabane to Belfast twice a week to train with the Junior Belfast Giants, a youth development team.

She has also represented Ireland with the Irish Saints, the official National Youth Development Ice Hockey Team operated by the Irish Ice Hockey Association (IIHA), which has led her to compete in tournaments in both the United States and Canada.

She said that due to a shortage of young female players most of the teams she represented at youth level were predominantly made up of boys.

“Playing with the boys in the Belfast Giants junior team and national level was really great at junior level, but I really wanted to get more experience in the women’s game, and travelling to Scotland was my only way to experience that,” she said.

Over the past two seasons, Molly has played for the Caledonia Steel Queens in Edinburgh, an all-female Scottish side that competes in the Women’s National Ice Hockey League.

All of those experiences at both junior and now more senior level, she says, have fuelled her desire to become a full-time professional.