Being an elite-level athlete has its perks, but it’s easy to take for granted the person on the inside.
The Journal sat down with Gaels Women’s Hockey OUA 2026 rookie of the year forward, Jada Wood, ArtSci ’29.
Wood grew up in Williams Lake, B.C., a town with a population of only 10,000 people. Growing up in a small town, she relied on friends and family, which drew her passion for hockey. “My older brother and older cousin played, which made me look up to them as they were a huge inspiration for me growing up,” Wood said.
The town wasn’t big enough to field a girls hockey team when she was just starting out, so she had to play with the boys until she was 10. Her dad coached her until 10th grade, until the family decided that it was time for her to leave the small town to seek hockey programs at a higher level.
“I knew I needed to leave if I wanted to pursue [hockey], I needed to leave Williams Lake because my options being so limited,” Wood said.
She made the decision to go to Okanagan Hockey Academy (OHA), a hockey-focused prep school in Penticton, B.C., for her last two years of high school, where she thinks her development raised to a whole other level.
“I feel it really helped me skyrocket, just having that push and challenge.”
Wood admits moving away from home at such a young age was “definitely a little bit of a challenge.” She jokingly acknowledged that the five-hour drive from Williams Lake to Penticton doesn’t compare to how far from home she is now while at Queen’s. Despite the difficulty, she knew that it was necessary for her to get to the next level.
With two successful years at OHA, she was faced with deciding where she would play hockey at the university level.
“I had a couple different offers, but once I looked at Queen’s, I just kept going back to them,” Wood said. “I never visited or anything, but I heard so many things about their good team culture, which was a huge thing for me.”
Wood arrived in Kingston for the first time last September and got off to a hot start with four points in her first four USports games. “I was fortunate to have the opportunity to play with two very skilled forwards, which definitely helped me,” said Wood.
She also credits her teammates for being so welcoming when she first got in.
“There wasn’t any age dynamics, everyone was so positive and pushing each other to be their best,” Wood said.
The team’s off-ice closeness led to on-ice success, putting up the most amount of wins the program had seen since 2017.
“We’d be excited but didn’t want to ride the high for too long,” Wood said on their amazing season last year.
The Gaels would end up first in the OUA East with 51 points, with Wood leading the OUA and USports rookie race with 20 points. Her tremendous season was topped with being named to the USports All-Rookie Team and winning the Alfie Pierce Trophy for an outstanding women’s varsity student-athlete in their first year. The award was received at the annual Queens’ Athletics and Recreation Colour Awards.
When not playing hockey, Wood loves to stay active by playing soccer, pickleball, camping, and fishing. She is incredibly thankful for her parents and Coach Morgan McHaffie.
Wood and the Gaels’ exhibition season starts on Sept. 17 in Syracuse, but they will play their first home game Oct. 17. at 4:30 p.m. at the Memorial Centre.
Tags
Queen's Athletics, USPORTS, women's hockey
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