France';s Women';s National Ice Hockey Team is in the process of creating
hockey history. After winning gold at the 2018 Women';s Division IA World
Championship - played on their own home soil in the town of Vaujany - the
French women have been promoted to the top division in women';s hockey for the
first time ever. The 2019 Women';s World Championship will be played from Apr.
4 to Apr. 14, 2019 in  Espoo, Finland. All of the big names will be there -
Canada, USA, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic and more. When France
takes the ice against those countries, one of their young players will be
21-year-old Clara Rozier. She is one of the players who got France there in the
 first place, and rightfully so.

While France has never really been considered a "hockey hotbed", Rozier is not
only incredibly proud of what she and her teammates accomplished, but also very
 proud of all hockey players who have come from France and made the spotlight.
Appreciating today';s current stars, her fellow countrymen hold a special place
 in her heart.

Joyeux anniversaire @ClaraRozier 🎂🎁🎊

La Tricolore fête ses 2️⃣1⃣ ans aujourd'hui ! pic.twitter.com/MWxsyoNq3Y

- Équipes France Hockey (@Hockey_FRA) August 28, 2018

"Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Cristobal Huet, Antoine Roussel, Pierre-Edouard
Bellemare," Rozier rattled off some of her favorite names. "Crosby and Ovechkin
 because they are the best players in the world, for me. They have a lot of
qualities. Crosby with his stick is very amazing - he can do everything he
wants. And the others because they are French players and they played in NHL.
Huet is an example. At the last World Championship (2017), he was very
impressive at 40 years old!"

THW talked one on one with Rozier recently. We learned more about how she got
started playing hockey and her story up until now. Perhaps more importantly, we
 got a sense of her aspirations for the upcoming Women';s Worlds in April
2019.Learning the Game in France

Too often when North Americans think of France, we typically imagine only
places like Paris or maybe the French Riviera locations like Cannes or Nice. We
 tend to overlook the more mountainous or colder climates of the country.
Locations in the French Alps such as Chamonix, Grenoble and Albertville have
each played host to a Winter Games. The mountain terrains also happen to be
where Rozier is from, and it is where she learned to play hockey.

"I live in Morzine, a ski resort in the French Alps," Rozier explained. "In
this little town most of the children are skiing, playing ice hockey or both.
I';m very happy to live in mountains! I started hockey at seven years old.
Nobody in my family plays ice hockey. It was my best friend who was playing
hockey and gave me the desire to play."

🐧🏒#morzine #HockeyFrance pic.twitter.com/6FOMXyjHyA

- Clara Rozier (@ClaraRozier) January 11, 2018

However, chances to play the game in Morzine were quite sparse. The town itself
 has a population of not even 3,000 people, and hockey opportunities were slim,
 particularly for girls. Enough so that as Rozier got into her teenage years it
 was necessary to move to a more populated portion of the Alps. Rozier';s
residence during her formative years had approximately 56,000 more residents.

"There are not a lot of opportunities to play hockey because it is a little
city and they don';t have a women'; hockey team," Rozier stated. "So I played
with the boys when I was young, and at 15 years old I left Morzine for
Chambéry to play with Pôle France. It is a women'; hockey team which gathers
the best girls in France in sports studies. I stayed in Chambéry during five
years, and this year I came back to Morzine because I';m ski instructor too.
But I still play with the Pôle."Playing for Pôle France Féminin

The goal of Pôle France is to bring together the best female players in the
country and centralize them in Chambéry. Although Crozier just entered her
early 20s, she and a number of players her age have continued to play
for Pôle in competitive hockey throughout France. Because France has a
limited number of female players, it promotes better overall development and
competition by having a team mixed with teenagers and young adults, and having
them compete against younger male teams.

Crozier explained a bit more about how Pôle works:

"Like I mentioned before, P├┤le regroups women from 15 years old and we play in
 the U17 French Men';s Championship because the women';s league is too poor to
progress, and playing against boys is very good for us. They skate faster,
shoot harder so it';s not so bad. We are just 2,408 girls playing hockey in
France, whereas in the USA you have 75,832. So it';s difficult for us, but a
lot of little girls are coming now and I think we have good players to take
over of French hockey in the future."Clara Rozier has come from a town of less
than 3,000 people to represent the entire country of France in international
play (Photo Credit: Philippe Crouzet).

Through 75 career games with P├┤le France, Rozier has scored 26 goals and 23
assists for 49 points. Her finest season offensively was this past 2017-18
campaign when she scored 16 goals and eight assists in only 20 games to lead
the squad in scoring. Rozier is a winger with a right-hand shot. At 5-foot-3
and close to 140 pounds she possesses quickness, but is more of a heady,
cerebral player. Rozier is also modest too, and found it difficult to speak
about herself when asked what her best attributes are as a hockey player.

"For playing ice hockey, you have to be very strong in your head because it';s
a very hard sport!" she stated. "For me I think I have a good vision. It';s
difficult for me to speak about myself. I think I';m a complete player, but I
have to work hard for becoming stronger everywhere. When you play ice hockey
you have to be good in a lot of attributes - it';s a difficult
sport."Representing Her Country on the International StageAt three different
IIHF U18 tournaments Clara Rozier medalled with France each time (Photo Credit:
 Philippe Crouzet).

During Rozier';s teenage years, she represented France in IIHF U18 tournaments
for three different World Championships at the Division I level and one
qualification tournament. With her on their roster, France won the 2013
Women';s Division I qualification tournament outright, before going on to win
the bronze medal at the corresponding World Championship. Rozier ensured that
the French followed that up with a silver at the 2014 tournament and then gold
in 2015. She served as an alternate captain for the gold medal team, but may
have had her finest performance at the U18 level in 2014. There she was a point
 per game player with three goals and a pair of assists in the five tournament
games.

"When I put the jersey on to represent my country I feel very proud," Rozier
shared. "It is real pride to put this jersey on and a dream! I think a lot of
people want to represent their country and not all can do it. So it';s a
privilege and I';m very proud of this. I feel really excited because I';m going
 to play an international game."

Since the U18 level, Rozier has played for France Women';s National Team at
three World Championships at the Division IA level and at an Olympic qualifier,
 beginning in 2016. While she would go goalless for her first two Worlds and
the Olympic qualifier, she saved her first goal at a Women';s World
Championship for just the right time. Played in Vaujany, France, the 2018
Women';s Division IA World Championships were held and the French were at the
top of the podium - winning gold and advancing for the first time ever into the
 top tournament. Rozier scored the second goal of the game, which held up to be
 the decisive game-winner in the final game of the tournament, a 7-1 win by
France over Slovakia.

"It';s amazing - I have no words to explain it," Rozier said when asked what
advancing to the top division means to her. "It';s one of the best days of my
life. I already know this feeling because three years ago we won the World
Championship with the U18 French team (at Division I). But my generation
(1997), it was our last year with the U18 team so we won but we did not have
the opportunity to go to the top division the following year. But today I can
go to the top division, so it';s not really the same feeling. I can see what is
 happening at the top, and I really look forward to being there! It';s just a
perfect moment with an amazing team. And we won in France! The ice rink was
full, a lot of noise, my family was here, so it was perfect!"They';re Not Done
Yet!

The work of Rozier and the French National Women';s Team is not done yet. Yes,
they have made history and have reached a distinct pinnacle. However, it is not
 the pinnacle. Rozier has no intention of falling out of the top division and
facing demotion once the 2019 Women';s Worlds take place in April. Furthermore,
 she and France are focused on Olympic qualification as well.

"With the team, the goal is to try to stay in top division next year and be
qualified to the next Olympics Games," Rozier explained. "Personally, I want to
 progress in the speed of my skating and my shots. To become stronger, and have
 more playing time - have a more important role on the team and on the
ice."Clara Rozier (bottom center) and Team France celebrate a promotion to the
IIHF';s top division with a bottle of champagne (Photo Credit: Philippe
Crouzet).

There is no question that Rozier will be able to accomplish her personal goals
for skill improvement. She has the drive and the motivation to continuously
improve. In terms of her role and value to the team, France needs her more than
 ever right now. This is no easy road that the French are going down. At the
2019 Women';s Worlds they are in Group B, which includes Sweden, Japan, Czech
Republic and Germany. In order to avoid relegation Rozier and her teammates
will need to finish better than at least two of those teams. Rozier is fully
aware that anything can happen - she is embracing it and making the most of her
 chances.

"The most important thing I';ve learned about life from playing hockey is that
anything could happen," she said. "And it could all go away in an instant. So
you have to push yourself up until the end, whatever happens!"

The post Clara Rozier: Forging France';s Future in Women';s Hockey appeared
first on The Hockey Writers.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheHockeyWrite...
--- SBBSecho 3.06-Win32
 * Origin: TequilaMockingbird Online - Toms River, NJ (1:266/404)