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As Jayna Bowen adds at least 35 pounds of armour, it’s hard to believe her dreams began with a casual question and an $80 fee.
Her dad, Aaron, grew up in Bradenton, playing and earning extra money refereeing roller rink hockey before officiating on ice. He didn’t know much about ice hockey when the Ellenton Ice Rink & Sports Complex opened in 1999, and he didn’t know what his daughter would say almost 20 years later when he asked her if she wanted to participate in the rink’s “pay to play” program, including gear and all, with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bowen knew her dad had grown up around the sport, and she had watched her older brother play, but she had never been on the ice outside of free skating in Michigan with her cousins.
But at 10 years old — a late start for a sport where most people begin when they can walk — Bowen fell in love with the singularity of it. She loved the violence, but also what hockey required of her.
“It’s so much different than everything else,” Bowen said. “And, also, you have to be athletic, but also you have to be on skates. So, take any other sports and put them on skates, you probably can’t do it. It’s completely different.”
Since that first program, Bowen has continued to pursue hockey more seriously. For the last year, the 17-year-old has focused on finding a way to continue playing goalkeeper beyond high school. Despite being outside of the “hockey belt” — areas in the Northeast and Midwest where most hockey recruits live — Bowen and her parents have served as their own recruitment team.
After stitching together game tape to email and dipping into savings for showcase trips, Bowen plans to leave Parrish Community, reclassifying as a 2028 graduate to play hockey at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. With a nine percent acceptance rate, Exeter Academy has helped dozens of players earn Division I opportunities over the last two decades, a goal Bowen hopes to achieve when she graduates from the prep school.
In September, Bowen will travel to Exeter, New Hampshire, with a new wardrobe fit for relentless winters rather than unbearable summers. She’ll focus on hockey, giving up basketball and flag football, which she also excelled at, being named The Herald-Tribune's Flag Football Player of the Year the past two seasons.
“I don’t want to be ordinary,” Bowen said. “So everyone, all my friends are planning on where they want to go to college and what they’re going to do, different scholarships and everything. And I just want to go somewhere else and do my own thing. And I think no one really around here has done that.”
While Aaron and Bowen’s mom, Sara, understood their daughter loved hockey when she started playing, they didn’t realize she had a gift for it.
“She wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I want to play in the Olympics,’ or, ‘I want to play in college at a young age,’” Sara said. “It was more coaches and people that are from up north and Canada and Russia that are very involved in hockey that said, ‘Hey, you know she’s very good at this, right?’”
Bowen is 5-foot-6, 120 pounds before adding her gear. She’s around two inches shorter than the average height for Division I goalies, but Bowen couldn’t resist what draws most goalkeepers: the custom-made helmet and large pads.
While most people think a goalie's size is what matters most, Bowen is quick to argue.
“It looks kind of easy, like you just got to stop the puck,” Bowen said. “But there’s so much more mechanics of your skating and hand-eye coordination. People say, ‘Oh, goalies, they don’t need to be athletic, they just need to be big,’ but it’s the complete opposite.”
While she can’t cover the upper half of the net with her body, Bowen limits low shots because of her athleticism. She knows how to move quickly from side to side, preventing forwards from finding open shots.
“As far as her positioning and her quickness and her athleticism, I say she was way ahead of the boys in that area,” Gulf Coast Flames’ coach Andrew Mathieu said. “It was great, and it was refreshing to see.”
The people who recognized Bowen’s talent urged the family to move her north, where she could get more exposure. But Aaron and Sara were hesitant to commit to a prep school, wanting to find something that fit Bowen and was worth the potential cost.
So, by age 12, Bowen started playing on travel teams in the area. She started on the Gulf Coast Flames, playing with boys, before joining the Florida Alliance girls program, which traveled throughout the United States and into Canada.
Last year, Bowen returned to the all-boys Flames, as her interest in playing in college began to peak. She wanted to grow as a goalie, and Bowen thought playing against boys was the best way.
As her ambitions grew, so did Bowen and her parents’ tactics for earning an eventual scholarship.
To afford traveling to showcases and buying better gear — which often costs up to $2,000 — Aaron worked overtime at the Sheriff’s Office or the family dipped into savings. They've worked to pay for private ice time and individual training.
“We would cut in other areas to make it work,” Sara said. “It’s kind of unfortunate that it is so expensive, and I always tell Jayna this: ‘If you didn’t have the talent that you have, we would definitely be playing a different sport because of the expense.’ But I feel like it’s been worth it because she loves it. So, we make it happen.”
Before each game, Bowen sets up a GoPro behind the net. Aaron switches the camera from one side to the other between periods. As the game continues, Aaron highlights clips whenever a shot happens. Then, the duo clips them, picking out the most impressive ones to create a highlight reel in between schoolwork, basketball practice, flag football and recovery. Despite breaking her ribs this season, Bowen only missed three games.
Bowen posts clips on her hockey-dedicated Instagram and emails coaches and scouts around the country, hoping for any type of engagement. The trio will also make sure Bowen's elite prospects profile is up to date.
“You definitely have to keep reaching out to people, sending emails constantly,” Bowen said. “You almost have to be annoying with it. And you definitely have to travel to go to showcases. So, that’s where it’s tough because it is a lot of money and investment of your time…they don’t have very much down in Florida.”
To reach out to Exeter Academy, Bowen had to go to even greater lengths. One of her friends, Grace Riley, went to Exeter to play hockey after growing up in Florida. Now, she's committed to UConn, where she'll play next year. Bowen asked Riley to talk to the head coach. Turns out, the team had a goalie opening.
Bowen continued to send videos before speaking to the coach over Zoom in September. Then, she submitted an application last fall, took a visit in December and received a scholarship offer in January.
“When we send the clips, I get very worried that maybe it’s not what they’re looking for,” Bowen said. “Maybe it’s not what they’re looking for. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad goalie or athlete, just that’s not what they’re looking for. But they kept on sending back positive feedback, and I was very happy. It let a lot of stress off, knowing that they actually want me there, and I’m not just forcing going there.”
In her last few months at home, Bowen hopes to “tire herself out” of the things she won’t have in New Hampshire. So, that means spending a lot of time at the pool and the beach. Really, anything that’s warm.
Bowen’s nervous. Although they’ve been texting, she’s never met any current players. And she’ll be miles from what she knows. But more than anything, she’s excited. After years of managing her own recruitment and putting herself out there every game, practice and showcase, Bowen’s opportunity is here.
Another emotion has crept in these days, too — appreciation. Not many people in Florida are 10 minutes away from a rink. Not many people have parents who would contribute the money and time hers did.
“I think that life is very short, and I’m just starting to realize that I’m going to do what I want and not let anyone stop me,” Bowen said. “If I have the ability, why not take it?”
So, she'll continue to chase what’s different, only this time 1,400 miles away.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Jayna Bowen's unorthodox hockey dream leads to Exeter Academy from Parrish
Continue reading...
Her dad, Aaron, grew up in Bradenton, playing and earning extra money refereeing roller rink hockey before officiating on ice. He didn’t know much about ice hockey when the Ellenton Ice Rink & Sports Complex opened in 1999, and he didn’t know what his daughter would say almost 20 years later when he asked her if she wanted to participate in the rink’s “pay to play” program, including gear and all, with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bowen knew her dad had grown up around the sport, and she had watched her older brother play, but she had never been on the ice outside of free skating in Michigan with her cousins.
But at 10 years old — a late start for a sport where most people begin when they can walk — Bowen fell in love with the singularity of it. She loved the violence, but also what hockey required of her.
“It’s so much different than everything else,” Bowen said. “And, also, you have to be athletic, but also you have to be on skates. So, take any other sports and put them on skates, you probably can’t do it. It’s completely different.”
Since that first program, Bowen has continued to pursue hockey more seriously. For the last year, the 17-year-old has focused on finding a way to continue playing goalkeeper beyond high school. Despite being outside of the “hockey belt” — areas in the Northeast and Midwest where most hockey recruits live — Bowen and her parents have served as their own recruitment team.
After stitching together game tape to email and dipping into savings for showcase trips, Bowen plans to leave Parrish Community, reclassifying as a 2028 graduate to play hockey at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. With a nine percent acceptance rate, Exeter Academy has helped dozens of players earn Division I opportunities over the last two decades, a goal Bowen hopes to achieve when she graduates from the prep school.
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In September, Bowen will travel to Exeter, New Hampshire, with a new wardrobe fit for relentless winters rather than unbearable summers. She’ll focus on hockey, giving up basketball and flag football, which she also excelled at, being named The Herald-Tribune's Flag Football Player of the Year the past two seasons.
“I don’t want to be ordinary,” Bowen said. “So everyone, all my friends are planning on where they want to go to college and what they’re going to do, different scholarships and everything. And I just want to go somewhere else and do my own thing. And I think no one really around here has done that.”
Bowen beyond the “hockey belt”
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While Aaron and Bowen’s mom, Sara, understood their daughter loved hockey when she started playing, they didn’t realize she had a gift for it.
“She wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I want to play in the Olympics,’ or, ‘I want to play in college at a young age,’” Sara said. “It was more coaches and people that are from up north and Canada and Russia that are very involved in hockey that said, ‘Hey, you know she’s very good at this, right?’”
Bowen is 5-foot-6, 120 pounds before adding her gear. She’s around two inches shorter than the average height for Division I goalies, but Bowen couldn’t resist what draws most goalkeepers: the custom-made helmet and large pads.
While most people think a goalie's size is what matters most, Bowen is quick to argue.
“It looks kind of easy, like you just got to stop the puck,” Bowen said. “But there’s so much more mechanics of your skating and hand-eye coordination. People say, ‘Oh, goalies, they don’t need to be athletic, they just need to be big,’ but it’s the complete opposite.”
While she can’t cover the upper half of the net with her body, Bowen limits low shots because of her athleticism. She knows how to move quickly from side to side, preventing forwards from finding open shots.
“As far as her positioning and her quickness and her athleticism, I say she was way ahead of the boys in that area,” Gulf Coast Flames’ coach Andrew Mathieu said. “It was great, and it was refreshing to see.”
The people who recognized Bowen’s talent urged the family to move her north, where she could get more exposure. But Aaron and Sara were hesitant to commit to a prep school, wanting to find something that fit Bowen and was worth the potential cost.
So, by age 12, Bowen started playing on travel teams in the area. She started on the Gulf Coast Flames, playing with boys, before joining the Florida Alliance girls program, which traveled throughout the United States and into Canada.
Last year, Bowen returned to the all-boys Flames, as her interest in playing in college began to peak. She wanted to grow as a goalie, and Bowen thought playing against boys was the best way.
Bowens work to get Jayna noticed
You must be registered for see images
As her ambitions grew, so did Bowen and her parents’ tactics for earning an eventual scholarship.
To afford traveling to showcases and buying better gear — which often costs up to $2,000 — Aaron worked overtime at the Sheriff’s Office or the family dipped into savings. They've worked to pay for private ice time and individual training.
“We would cut in other areas to make it work,” Sara said. “It’s kind of unfortunate that it is so expensive, and I always tell Jayna this: ‘If you didn’t have the talent that you have, we would definitely be playing a different sport because of the expense.’ But I feel like it’s been worth it because she loves it. So, we make it happen.”
Before each game, Bowen sets up a GoPro behind the net. Aaron switches the camera from one side to the other between periods. As the game continues, Aaron highlights clips whenever a shot happens. Then, the duo clips them, picking out the most impressive ones to create a highlight reel in between schoolwork, basketball practice, flag football and recovery. Despite breaking her ribs this season, Bowen only missed three games.
Bowen posts clips on her hockey-dedicated Instagram and emails coaches and scouts around the country, hoping for any type of engagement. The trio will also make sure Bowen's elite prospects profile is up to date.
“You definitely have to keep reaching out to people, sending emails constantly,” Bowen said. “You almost have to be annoying with it. And you definitely have to travel to go to showcases. So, that’s where it’s tough because it is a lot of money and investment of your time…they don’t have very much down in Florida.”
To reach out to Exeter Academy, Bowen had to go to even greater lengths. One of her friends, Grace Riley, went to Exeter to play hockey after growing up in Florida. Now, she's committed to UConn, where she'll play next year. Bowen asked Riley to talk to the head coach. Turns out, the team had a goalie opening.
Bowen continued to send videos before speaking to the coach over Zoom in September. Then, she submitted an application last fall, took a visit in December and received a scholarship offer in January.
“When we send the clips, I get very worried that maybe it’s not what they’re looking for,” Bowen said. “Maybe it’s not what they’re looking for. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad goalie or athlete, just that’s not what they’re looking for. But they kept on sending back positive feedback, and I was very happy. It let a lot of stress off, knowing that they actually want me there, and I’m not just forcing going there.”
Jayna Bowen chasing the dream
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In her last few months at home, Bowen hopes to “tire herself out” of the things she won’t have in New Hampshire. So, that means spending a lot of time at the pool and the beach. Really, anything that’s warm.
Bowen’s nervous. Although they’ve been texting, she’s never met any current players. And she’ll be miles from what she knows. But more than anything, she’s excited. After years of managing her own recruitment and putting herself out there every game, practice and showcase, Bowen’s opportunity is here.
Another emotion has crept in these days, too — appreciation. Not many people in Florida are 10 minutes away from a rink. Not many people have parents who would contribute the money and time hers did.
“I think that life is very short, and I’m just starting to realize that I’m going to do what I want and not let anyone stop me,” Bowen said. “If I have the ability, why not take it?”
So, she'll continue to chase what’s different, only this time 1,400 miles away.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Jayna Bowen's unorthodox hockey dream leads to Exeter Academy from Parrish
Continue reading...
