Meet Hockey’s First Female GM Florence Schelling
When Florence Schelling was 4-years-old, her parents said she couldn’t play ice hockey with her brothers because there was no equipment small enough for her. At the time, no one could have imagined that hockey would lead to an illustrious career as a goaltender in both men’s and women’s hockey leagues. By the time it was all said and done, Schelling would become a four-time Olympian with the Swiss national hockey team.
In 2014, she led the Swiss Women’s team to a bronze medal, winning MVP of the Olympic tournament in the process. Now Schelling is making history off the ice by becoming the first female GM of a high-level men’s hockey team. On April 8th, 2020 Florence Schelling was named as General Manager for SC Bern, a member of the Swiss National Hockey League.
Florence Schelling and Northeastern
In college, Schelling showed signs that she was a special player. In her time at Northeastern, Schelling was almost impenetrable in the net. In four seasons playing with the Wildcats, she averaged a .94 save percentage with 1.74 goals against.
She was a leader on and off the ice. “She was an amazing collegiate player, and obviously an amazing international player and I was lucky enough to coach her for four years.
She helped get Northeastern back on the map when I took over a program (that was) struggling a bit.,” Northeastern head coach Dave Flint told the Boston Herald.
International Play
After college, Schelling continued to add to her resume. She became the only woman to play on the Swiss Men’s National B team and got drafted into the Canadian Women’s Hockey League in 2012. When she retired from playing in 2018, she coached the under 18 Swiss women’s team. This experience helped lead to her next job as a GM.
Florence Schelling and SC Bern.
The CEO of SC Bern, Marc Luthi, explained he liked Schelling for the job because of her diverse background as a player on both men’s and women’s teams and a coach.
“Florence will be a pioneer, probably worldwide, in her new role. But she’s young, fresh, she’ll bring a new perspective and break up existing structures.” Luthi told Berner Zeitung, a swiss website.
When asked about her new position Schelling spoke like a true competitor saying that her main concern is getting SC Bern back to the top of the league.
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