I had the pleasure to speaking with Melanie Jue from Kunlun Red Star of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League last week on her return to playing, life as a sports ambassador in China, and the reception and growth of the game there.
A bit of background
The Canadian Women’s Hockey league made history this year by expanding into China with two new teams, Kunlun Red Star and the Vanke Rays. Both of these teams are based in Shenzhen, close to Hong Kong.
Jue played four years of NCAA hockey on a strong Cornell team from 2006 to 2010, which included a Frozen Four Final appearance in 2010. She moved into coaching in 2010, spending 3 years in the CSSHL and 3 years at Lindenwood University in the NCAA before being drafted by Red Star this summer.
Returning to the game
Jue has transitioned well back to the ice from the bench, recording 6 goals and 3 assists in 23 games on defence. “It was definitely a bit of a shock to the system to start,” she explained, “my brain is better than it ever was, and that’s something that is a little harder to teach. It’s only up from here.”
Sports Ambassadorship
Jue and the other North American players are in China as sports ambassadors, meaning extra responsibilities in terms of sports promotion, youth training, and so on.
“Our role here is really just to help grow the game. We have a couple goals in terms of growing numbers, growing fans, and growing the product . . .we are helping them build a strong foundation for their journey to 2022.
Mentorship
Her coaching background has provided a unique asset for Jue in her mentorship role towards the Chinese players on her team. “This is probably my ideal role,” she said, “I get to play and I get to teach. I learned a lot about the game during my 7 years coaching and I think it very differently than I did when I first played.”
“It’s our job to improve [The Chinese players’] hockey IQ and teach them the why of their decisionmaking.”
And mentorship of Chinese players extends beyond the ice:
“They are very good, very disciplined, but there is a lot they don’t know about rest and recovery, nutrition, and practicing with purpose.”
“Day-to-day with our teammates, we’ve been teaching them English, teaching them nutrition, and how to be an athlete. As advanced as China is, they’ve been lacking in that department of understanding what nutrition is and how to be an elite.”
Reception
Ice hockey is a niche sport in China, until recently confined to the Northeastern province of Heilongjiang. But it seems the CWHL may have struck gold with their ambitious entry into this non-traditional market. As Jue reports, attendance has been great:
“I actually asked our marketing team a couple weeks ago what our average fan attendance is and they said it’s about 1300 people. That is incredible numbers for women’s hockey. You don’t get numbers like that other than maybe the Gophers and the Badgers in NCAA”
“Our numbers this year are pretty astounding for a women’s hockey team. We have gathered almost 250,000 online views for our games online; we’ve had about 35,000 total live attendance, and 3-400 articles written about Kunlun.”
“I think the Chinese market is at the tip of the iceberg for women’s hockey right now… I get excited thinking about it – the opportunities are genuinely limitless. If they really want to make a league where the best women’s players come to play, they genuinely can do it.”
“China is a wildcard in that way; if they want to do something, they can do it.”
It helps that Kunlun Red Star have been playing well, going 7 – 1 – 1 at home and 17 – 5 – 1 this season. They currently sit third in the CWHL standings.
The road to the Olympics
Jue is eligible for the 2022 Olympic squad and has high hopes for herself and the team:
“I think having such a large country’s support is huge, especially with the Olympics coming up around the corner. The Chinese get excited about things, and when they get excited they get on board, they tell their friends and so on.”
“They don’t want to just be an also-ran.”
“China isn’t exactly doing the best in the medal count this year, so there’s pressure to ramp things up.”
That pressure is likely a good thing with so many government, business, and individual players committed to success. It drives Melanie Jue as well, who is eligible for the Chinese team.
“Four years is a long time but if everything works out I’d love to be on that squad.”
Pacific Hockey
26/02/2018
Pacific Hockey 