As sophomore summer kicks into full swing, women’s ice hockey defenseman Emma Korbs ’17 and her fellow teammates are working hard to prepare for their first game against Harvard on October 23rd. With Korbs on campus not only training for next season but also for the potential of another Team Canada training camp this August, The Dartmouth sat down to discuss summer workouts, the upcoming season and her hockey career.
How have your summer workouts been?
EK: Since our season ended in the winter, we have been training really hard ever since the spring. It is a different dynamic in the summer because most of our team isn’t here, but the workouts are really tough and are leading us every day towards our goals for the fall. We work out five of the seven days of the week. We run and lift, and every day has a different focus that helps us strengthen different aspects of our game — explosiveness, power, agility, cardio and speed.
How do you see this next season unfolding, in comparison to last season?
EK: Ever since our freshmen year, we have been progressively getting better. Freshman year we had more freshmen than upperclassmen, which is difficult because the more experience a team has really matters at this level. Last year we made statistical and cultural strides that set us up to be in a great position for this season. Now we are older, and our team is more experienced and better. Our pre-season schedule really proves that we are now growing into the team we want to become. We play [the University of] Wisconsin [at Madison] very early on, and that is one of the best teams in the country, so them wanting to play us says a lot. We’re ready to prove to those teams that we belong with them and that we can take games from them. I think this next season will be our best yet since I have been at Dartmouth.
The shift from sophomore to junior year normally marks a natural shift in leadership roles on the team. How do you view your role as a leader for Dartmouth Hockey?
EK: I think every single person on our team leads in their own way. By working hard every day, setting an example and excelling in different things, everyone has their own leadership qualities that different people can look up to and follow. I really strive to be the best leader I can be by always working my hardest and by being a good teammate. I think that’s what is most important for me -— being a good teammate. I think this year especially has been a transition for me because I am becoming more and more confident and comfortable in my place on the team, and I am starting to realize that people notice the things I do and that people look up to me in the same ways that I look up to them. It keeps me accountable and helps me be the best I can be.
Tell us about your experience playing for Team Canada and about your Team Canada conditioning camp in the spring.
EK: For two years I was invited to the Under 18 National Team tryouts and I made it in August of 2012. I made it onto the series team, which means I played with Team Canada in a series against the US in late August. But then I got cut for the worlds team, which was a disappointing moment that has pushed me to keep getting better. I was not invited back last year for the Under 22 National Team, but this spring I was invited to the developmental team conditioning camp in May. Basically we all conditioned off-ice for days straight, and you either get cut or advance to the August tryouts in Calgary. I worked extremely hard in the spring to prepare for the camp and I would not have been able to do it without the help and support of my teammates. Every day I would put in a little extra work to get into the shape I needed to be in to succeed, and every day at least one of my teammates would come in to do extra with me and to help push me. Now I’ve just been working and preparing for the possibility of advancing to the August tryouts this summer.
What legacy do you want to leave behind for Dartmouth Hockey?
EK: What I really want to pass on to others when I leave is the ability to embody our team culture and work ethic into habitual practices. I want to be the teammate that truly walks around with our core values embedded in me, and I want others to see such values in me. What would be amazing is to have freshmen classes come in and see in our actions the kind of team and teammates we are, and then they walk like us and understand immediately our culture, goals and visions. I want to be that kind of person, like a walking example of what Dartmouth Hockey should be and to show others what it means to work hard and to be a great teammate.
