Korea calls for Ontario hockey players

Women excited for a chance with Olympic home team

When Caroline Park received a Facebook message in 2013 asking her if she would be interested in playing women’s hockey for South Korea at the Olympics, she thought it was fake.

Four years later, the forward from Brampton, Ont., is months away from trading her stethoscope for hockey skates at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang.

“I initially thought it was a spam email or someone kind of joking and pranking me, but turned out to be legit,” Park said in a phone interview from New York, where she’s studying medicine at Columbia University.

Park, 27, is one of two Canadians playing for the host South Koreans along with Toronto forward Danelle Im. Former St. Francis Xavier goaltender So Jung Shin will be in net.

Park, who plans to graduate in 2020, has to finish another clinical rotation before joining the team in October. Between school and preparing for the Olympics, Park said, the juggling act has its challenges.

“It’s definitely pretty tough in terms of time management, especially now that I’m in the clinical rotation for med school, which is a lot more demanding in terms of time commitment,” Park said. “So it’s been a bit of a challenge, I guess, trying to balance both.

“It’s a grind, but it’s fun.”

Park was applying to med school while working at an orthopedic hospital when she received the Facebook message from a member of the Korea Ice Hockey Association asking if she would be interested in trying out. Each summer, Park and Im would travel back to South Korea after the school year to train with the team.

“It was really perfect timing,” she said. “If I had been in med school it would have been a lot more difficult to commit to that, but I went out there within a week.”

To play for South Korea, both Park and Im needed Korean citizenship. Park received hers in 2015, while Im obtained hers within the past year. Both players’ parents were born in Korea, making them eligible.

Park and Im had never met before their first trip to South Korea in 2013, but their relationship has grown in the past few years. Park’s family has since moved to Toronto and her and Im’s families live down the street from each other.

“She’s a great person, great hockey player,” Park said. “I kind of see her as my little sister, so it’s a lot of fun to be able to go out there and have her there with me to experience it.”

Im, 24, did an undergraduate degree at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., before moving back home to study nursing in Toronto. She played this past season with the Ryerson University Rams, scoring one goal and adding three assists in 20 games.

She says the opportunity to be an Olympian is a surreal experience.

“I never dreamt this would ever happen,” she said from Seoul, where the team is based.

“I don’t think I did much, I didn’t do anything for this. It’s a much different situation than someone who’s earned, worked hard for a spot on Team Canada, for example. Obviously, it’s so different this way and I’m just grateful for this opportunity.”

''I initially thought it was a spam email or someone kind of joking and pranking me.