OSHAWA – Ontario Tech defender to represent Australia in World Hockey Championships

Emily Davis-Tope’s birth certificate may say Toronto, but her hockey roots were firmly planted in the land down under and now the Ontario Tech University defender is set to represent her adopted country in the World Hockey Championships.

Davis-Tope, who was raised a couple hours north of Melbourne in Bendigo (Victoria), has been named to the Australian national squad for the upcoming International Ice Hockey Federation’s Division II B World Championships.

The competition runs May 17-22 in Zagreb, Croatia. The winner will be promoted to Division II A. Australia won the division in 2020, but due to the pandemic, never ended up getting moved up. Davis-Tope said that is the goal again this year.

“Due to the pandemic the team didn’t get promoted, but our goal is to win again this year,” she said. “Once we all meet for training camp, we will also make smaller goals for the tournament.”

This won’t be the first time that she suits up for her country, having played since 2014 in various U-18 and national women’s team events. This opportunity in Croatia will be her seventh world championship, helping her compete around the world in countries such as Spain, Austria, Poland and Korea.

“It means so much to me. It is always an amazing opportunity to represent my country playing a sport I love.”

Davis-Tope moved with her family to Australia when she was two and followed her older brother Jayden into hockey. Jayden is a goalie while Emily and her twin brother Charlie play defence.

Davis-Tope quickly rose through the ranks of Australian women’s hockey and was playing U-18 hockey when she was just 15 and appeared for first time for the senior national team a year later. She left her family and returned to Canada to pursue her hockey dream in 2017 with the Pursuit of Excellence program in Kelowna, B.C.

Davis-Tope, who was an Academic All-Canadian this year, joined the Ridgebacks in time for the 2019-20 season and was able to continue training throughout the cancelled 2020-21 season. The Kinesiology student credits her time playing university hockey for continuing to improve her game and give her the ability to play internationally again.

“Playing in the OUA for the past few years has really elevated my game as it is one of the highest-level leagues for women’s hockey in Canada,” she said. “I have played defence and forward with for the Ridgebacks, which has added more versatility to my game.”

Australia opens the tournament on May 17 against Turkey, followed by their matchup against the host Croatians on May 19. They round out play on May 20 and 22 against South Africa and Iceland.