When Cagla Celik was first invited to a training camp with Türkiye’s women’s national team at the age of 16, her goal was simply to make it through to the final day. Players were sent home on the third, seventh and fifteenth days, and all Celik wanted was to still be there on day 15.
“When I got invited to the camp, it was almost every single person who played ice hockey in [Türkiye’s] women’s league,” said Celik. “I got invited too, but when I went there I did not expect to make the national team. My goal was to just be able to develop myself and be at the camp, see how national team development works and just be at the training camp until the fifteenth day. So my goal wasn’t even to make the team because I thought I could not do it. It was a really big surprise to me when they announced the roster.”
Celik was named to the team that then travelled to Hong Kong and won gold at the 2015 Division II Group B Qualification tournament. This was just four years after Celik’s introduction to the sport. A former ballet dancer, she took up hockey when her parents wanted her to start participating in a team sport, and her first time skating was at a rink in a mall for a friend’s birthday. “I basically said okay, this is what I want to do. This is the team sport I want to do.”
Throughout high school, Celik practiced over 30 hours a week. “I had 5:00am practices and then I was practicing three hours at night and on top of that I was also going to the gym.” She maintained good grades at school as well, and was named valedictorian. Knowing that she wanted to take the sport to the next level, Celik pursued opportunities to train outside of Türkiye, and it was at a camp in Germany where she met a player who told her about the Ontario Hockey Academy (OHA). This piqued her interest, and Celik went on to play for OHA for the 2016-17 season as a post graduate.
“I didn’t speak a word of English when I went to OHA,” said Celik, who remained in Canada after her season with OHA, taking intensive English at McGill University and playing for a junior team in Montreal. “I’ve been speaking English maybe five, six years, so that’s been challenging as well.”
Three years after arriving in Canada, Celik hit another major milestone—both for herself personally, and for hockey players in Türkiye.“I knew it wasn't likely for me to get into NCAA schools, but I’m like, if I never try I’ll never know,” said Celik. “I made my own highlight video and started sending it to almost every single NCAA school in Division III. I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t know how the structure worked.”
Celik emailed 40 schools and heard back from 35 who were interested in recruiting her. At first she didn’t tell her parents what she was doing, but when she revealed the news to them she simply said: “I want to become the first woman [Turkish-born] player in the NCAA.”
“There’s not a single man either, but I just thought it would be really nice to be the first woman player, just because growing up I played with boys in Türkiye and was always told, ‘you’ll not be able to become a good player’, and this and that. So it was really important for me to do this and to do it as a woman athlete.”
Her parents were very supportive, with her father flying out to North America to visit schools with her. She ultimately chose Lake Forest College, but her first season didn’t go as planned. “I broke my nose coming into Lake Forest, literally my first night, and was severely concussed … and then pulled a muscle in my leg my first practice back, so did not get to play my freshman year at all.”
Her sophomore season took place in the midst of COVID, but she was able to stay sharp by joining Türkiye’s national team for development camps and games while taking classes online.
Celik’s first full season finally came in her junior year, and she cites the highlight of her NCAA career as scoring her first goal during the 2021-22 playoffs, Lake Forest’s fourth tally in a 5-0 win over Marian University in the NCHA Slaats Cup Quarterfinals. “That was something like, wow not only did I become the first Turkish NCAA player, but I helped the team out.”
In her senior year, Lake Forest once again made it to the NCHA Slaats Cup Semifinals, falling 2-0 to Adrian College. She was named to the NCHA All-Academic Team three times, and all throughout her university career continued to represent Turkey internationally. However, in February 2023, Türkiye was hit with devastating earthquakes that affected 10 different cities and over 13 million people, and the Turkish Ice Hockey Federation withdrew from the 2023 Women’s World Championship. The team made their return to international competition this year, not just returning to the world stage, but also hosting the Division II Group B tournament.
“Last year was marked by unfortunate events for our entire country. Our hearts continue to go out to those affected by the devastating earthquakes,” said Celik. “The contrasting experience of missing the World Championship last year, only to have it hosted at home this year, was indeed unique, but ultimately magical. The atmosphere was electric with excitement, and the event was impeccably organized by the staff, teams, workers, the IIHF and the Turkish Ice Hockey Federation.
“Having my parents and friends witness my performance added a special dimension to the experience. The opportunity to interact with young girls, who sought inspiration and guidance about playing in the US, was incredible rewarding. It is really rewarding to be able to achieve that and really rewarding to be a role model for young generations.”
Now graduated from Lake Forest, Celik spent a month playing with Istanbul BBSK on her first professional contract in late 2023, and currently plays in Seattle and with the University of Washington women’s hockey club as she pursues her MBA.
The message Celik hopes young players and athletes receive from her story is to always try, with all your effort, no matter the odds.
“If you never try, you’ll never know,” said Celik. “I originally thought that if I wouldn’t be able to get into any NCAA schools that I would have to quit playing hockey … I didn’t think it was possible, but it was possible, and if I never emailed all those schools I would never have known and thought that that’s something I could accomplish.”