AMBASSADOR SPOTLIGHT: Pia Surke | Dortmund, Germany

MEET PIA!

Tell us about yourself!

Hi! My name is Pia, I am 22 years old and am from Dortmund in Western Germany. I started ice skating when I was around 2 and a half years old because of my older brother. Then I joined the youngest hockey team in the local club because they practiced at the same time the kids learned to skate and fell in love with hockey then and there. When I was still part of the youngest team, I wanted to play goalie. I don’t really know why, but I just wanted to be a goalie. So since the first practice I did as a goalie, I’ve been in the net. I played in all the youth teams in my hometown’s club until in 2016 I decided to go to Kelowna, Canada for three months. I joined the Hockey Canada Academy there and practiced with amazing coaches and players for three months. After I came back in the 2016-2017 season, next to the boys team, I played my first women’s games in the second German league for the Bergkamen Bears and was invited to several camps and games with the German U18 National Team. After this season, I fully changed clubs to the Bergkamen Bears to work in playing in the first German Women’s Hockey League (DFEL). The ongoing season my seventh season with the first team of the Bergkamen Bears in the DFEL. I also played in a men’s team next to the DFEL last season, which gave me more experience and practice. Outside of hockey, I try to study the game and sport more by studying sport sciences at university. I finished my bachelor’s degree in Human Movement in Sport and Exercise last summer and started my Master’s program in Sport and Exercise Sciences for Health and Performance in October. I also have two jobs to finance my hockey career.

What made you want to be a WHL Brand Ambassador?

I’ve heard great things about WHL from several sources now. I followed the Instagram page a couple of months ago and was always impressed in the work and effort the team puts into the brand. Women’s hockey deserves all the attention it gets and more and I want to be a playing part in the development of women’s hockey in general, as well as the brand WHL.

What are you most looking forward to as a #WHLAMBASSADOR?

I’m looking the most forward to the network. I love meeting new people and was lucky enough to have already met some other ambassadors in the Netherlands last summer. We can learn so much from just communicating and exchanging experiences and I can’t wait to get started in the network.

What’s something not a lot of people know about you?

People might perceive me as a really outgoing, open-minded and extroverted person or even team player, but I do love my time alone. I love spending time at home and laying in bed with a good book or TV show without any social contacts for hours. I also love cooking very much.

If you could sit down and have dinner with one female hockey player, who would it be and why?

Probably Hilary Knight. She is just an amazing player and I would use the time to ask her about her surroundings and environment during training times. It would be extremely interesting for me to ask her about what she thinks were the most influential factors in her hockey career. If not Hilary, then probably Manon Rhéaume. Just because she was a goalie and had the chance to play in the NHL, which is still crazy for me to think about.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given in hockey or in life?

People want to see you fail. That’s a fact. But if you focus on yourself and keep pushing through sweat and pain, those people will see nothing but success and a smile on your face. Another one would be work in silence and let your performance talk for itself. It might sound cheesy but it’s true. Great players never brag with their performance or anything but instead analyze their games accordingly and always want to improve.

What’s your dream for women’s hockey?

That women’s hockey will get the same attention as men’s hockey. There’s this belief in the hockey world that women’s hockey is just not entertaining as men’s hockey. And that’s just not true. I want people to be more open to watch women’s hockey. It might be different from men’s hockey, but definitely not worse! We put in the same hard work and time as boys and men do, so we deserve the same platforms and sources.

CONNECT WITH PIA:

@piasrk35

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